With the Union Home Ministry supporting the Mizoram government's proposal to establish a special Mizo Territorial Army (MTA) battalion to deal with drug trafficking, the offensive against the scourge should get more momentum. In fact, the Mizoram government had long been pressing for raising such a dedicated battalion in view of the difficulties faced by the government – including manpower crunch – in tackling drug trafficking. Several north-eastern states continue to be at the centre of a flourishing narcotics trade, stemming largely from the region's proximity to the nefarious 'Golden Triangle' – a global hub of narcotics smuggling in Southeast Asia.
The MTA will be particularly effective in further strengthening vigilance along Mizoram's unfenced borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh, a stretch of 510 km and 318 km, respectively. Needless to say, these unfenced frontiers are hotspots for the smuggling of diverse drugs, including highly addictive methamphetamine tablets, foreign cigarettes, areca nuts, arms and ammunition, and exotic animals and their body parts. Smuggling in wildlife and wildlife body parts is also happening from the Northeast to Southeast Asia, and this, too, can be tackled by the new battalion. It is also good to see the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) keen on setting up its zonal office in Mizoram. A full-fledged NCB zonal office in the state has been a long-pending need in view of the grave scenario vis-Ã -vis narcotics smuggling.
Assam, which is battling a flourishing illegal trade of contraband drugs and has come up with huge amounts of seizures and arrests in the past few years, can also do a review of the situation and consider raising a dedicated force to expedite action on the offenders. A multi-pronged approach, including effective investigation and pursuance of court cases, is a must to win this battle against drug trafficking. A strong deterrent in the form of harsh penalties, too, can be a check on the illicit trade, which is crippling our young generations. The Government of India would also do well to take up the matter of cross-border movement of drugs with its Myanmar counterpart to facilitate enhanced coordination. In Assam, there have been seizures of huge consignments of banned narcotics for the past three to four years, which only goes to show the deep-rooted nature of the scourge. Indeed, drug consignments are being seized as a matter of routine, and this lays bare how easily the banned narcotics are finding their way into the state from the nefarious Golden Triangle. The developments also bring to the fore a clear lack of foolproof border vigilance in bordering states like Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland, which allows for such easy entry of drugs in such large quantities from Myanmar.