Nov 15, 2025 (Agencies): Seeing the scale of illicit drug damage in the Northeastern states, Nagaland Director General of Police Rupin Sharma has observed the need to establish the Northeast Anti-Drug Trafficking Agency headed by a Director General, to coordinate inter-state intelligence, manage border surveillance, and oversee rehabilitation programs during a two-day regional anti-narcotics conference held in Chumoukedima in Nagaland on November 13.
Nagaland’s Director General of Police Rupin Sharma, during the gathering, said that drug trafficking moves beyond a law-and-order problem into a direct threat to internal security and youth welfare. The drugs and money flowing through these routes feed organised crime, insurgency, and narco-terrorism networks.
The two-day long conference of Anti-Narcotics Task Force heads from Northeastern states, including Sikkim and West Bengal, held at the Police Complex, revealed how the region’s 1,643-kilometre porous border with Myanmar and its proximity to the Golden Triangle have made it extremely vulnerable to drug trafficking.
Narcotics Control Bureau Director General Anurag Garg highlighted that a 2019 survey by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment showed higher drug abuse rates in Northeastern states compared with other regions.
The conference focused on strengthening forensic infrastructure with new laboratories, mobile units, and advanced technology, including DNA profiling and mass spectrometry for faster drug analysis. Participants also discussed targeting drug kingpins, real-time intelligence sharing, and improving prosecution rates in narcotics cases.
