Shillong, July 31: Meghalaya will soon establish a dedicated Narcotics Administrative Building at Ratacherra, a key entry point connecting Assam and Manipur with the state, as part of an intensified strategy to curb drug trafficking and strengthen border surveillance. The move comes amid a broader crackdown on narcotics networks, with the government preparing to detain 10 more alleged drug traffickers under the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (PITNDPS) Act.
The announcement was made by Adviser to the Meghalaya Government’s Social Welfare Department Paul Lyngdoh during the launch of “Pulse of the Hills: Every Beat Against Drugs”, an anti-drug awareness campaign organised under the Drug Reduction, Elimination and Action Mission (DREAM). The programme was attended by Bollywood actor John Abraham, who joined the campaign to promote a drug-free Meghalaya, while fitness influencer and Youth Icon Award 2024 recipient Dapalei Linna Warjri led a Zumba session to encourage young people to adopt healthy lifestyles.
Speaking to reporters, Lyngdoh said, “We have to look at the Drugs problem from much wider perspective, we have to keep in mind that the drugs trafficking is not confined to Meghalaya, it is not even a regional problem, it is a global problem and Meghalaya faces the brunt because of its proximity to the Golden triangle.”
Highlighting the government’s multi-pronged strategy, he said, “However, when it comes to the effort being made by the social welfare department, if you have noticed yourselves, in a span of seven days, we have as three major programme under the DREAM mission and today we could converse with lot of youngsters in order to wind them away from Drugs, on the other hand we have also intensified policing and the raids have now started in the areas that have not been covered in the past is also another major achievement of the state Government.”
Lyngdoh said the government was preparing fresh preventive detention cases against suspected drug traffickers.
“As we speak the department of social welfare is preparing a list of the 10 fresh detiainues who will be detained under the PITNDPS, so that it deters this kind of illegal and immoral trafficking of drugs. The process is on and we should be able to complete the entire thing in a matter of two months. In those cases where people were detained earlier, in some of the cases their detention was extended by one more year.”
He said the state’s anti-drug infrastructure was also being strengthened with specialised enforcement units and surveillance capabilities.
“K9 unit is functional, we have dedicated dog squad and also we are now in the process of having an administrative building at Ratacherra region which is the gate way for people from Assam and Manipur entering Meghalaya, so are also persuing with the Ministry about the procurement of vehicles which actually scan and detects illicit narcotics.”
The Social Welfare Department had a programme on the “Pulse of the Hills: Every Beat Against Drugs” campaign which forms part of the state’s sustained effort under the DREAM mission to spread awareness, encourage community participation and strengthen enforcement measures to combat the growing menace of drug abuse and trafficking in Meghalaya.
