Guwahati: In a major crackdown on illicit narcotics cultivation in the northeast, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and security agencies destroyed cannabis plantations spread across approximately 458 acres in Arunachal Pradesh’s West Kameng district, while Manipur Police-led teams cleared another 45 acres of illicit poppy cultivation in Churachandpur.NCB said more than 1.37 lakh kg of cannabis plants, primarily cultivated on community land, were destroyed during joint operations conducted in the Kalaktang subdivision of West Kameng from Oct 26 to Nov 3.The operation involved 118 personnel and workers from Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), CRPF, Arunachal Pradesh Anti-Narcotics Task Force, West Kameng Police and the district administration.Ground surveys conducted by police and district authorities, supplemented by satellite imagery provided by NCB, helped identify cultivation sites in the difficult terrain.The area of illicit cannabis cultivation destroyed in Arunachal Pradesh in 2026 so far is more than eight times the total area cleared during the whole of the previous year, NCB said.The bureau has also mapped suspected cannabis and opium-poppy cultivation hotspots across the state and plans further coordinated destruction drives at identified sites in Lohit, Lower Dibang Valley, Dibang Valley, Namsai, Anjaw, Tirap, Changlang and Longding.The campaign is part of the Vision Document on Narcotics Control (2026–2029), which envisages coordinated mapping and destruction of illicit crops through a whole-of-govt approach involving central, state and district agencies.NCB had earlier led a drive to clear around 592 acres of illicit cannabis cultivation in Himachal Pradesh’s Parvati Valley. In Odisha, it joined the launch of Mission Zero Cannabis Cultivation in Kandhamal and Boudh, with around 30 acres cleared in Kandhamal.Separately, Churachandpur district police, in coordination with 1st IRB, 58th Battalion of CRPF, Narcotics and Affairs of Border (NAB) and Forest Department, destroyed approximately 45 acres of illicit poppy cultivation in the Thangjing Hill Range on Thursday.Manipur Police said the operation was conducted in the presence of an executive magistrate. No cultivators were found at the site. However, summons were subsequently issued to the chief of Lhangnom village, under whose jurisdiction the area falls.NCB has urged citizens to report illicit cultivation or drug trafficking confidentially through MANAS National Narcotics Helpline at 1933.
