Meghalaya org praises cops for Rs 51cr-drug seizure, urges govt to arrest kingpins

Shillong: The Hynniewtrep Youths’ Council (HYC) has congratulated the officers and personnel of the anti-narcotics task force (ANTF) of Meghalaya Police for their commendable success in seizing illegal drugs valued at more than Rs 51 crore in the state.The council, however, has also urged the govt to go beyond apprehending the peddlers and focus on arresting the kingpins of the drugs cartel.“We acknowledge the fact that such a major seizure sends a strong message that the law enforcement agencies are determined to crack down on the drug trade operating in and through the state,” the HYC said in a statement on Saturday.“However, the HYC strongly urges the authorities not to stop at arresting only the carriers or small-time suppliers. While these arrests are important, the real battle against the drug menace can only be won when the big fishes — the masterminds, financiers, and major players behind these drug syndicates — are identified, exposed, and brought to justice,” the pressure group emphasised in a media statement.“Seizing drugs is a major victory, but the real success will come when the kingpins who run the trade from behind the shadows are finally brought before the law,” the HYC statement, signed by its president RK Synrem, said.In the highest haul of contraband substances in the state so far, the ANTF of the state police had on March 6 seized heroin and methamphetamine valued at approximately Rs 51.13 crore in the illegal market and also busted an inter-state and cross-border drugs trafficking syndicate by apprehending the peddlers involved in ferrying the NPDS at Ratacherra in the East Jaintia Hills district.