Shillong, Aug 21: In a major milestone in its fight against narcotics, the Meghalaya Police has seized contraband worth over ₹412 crore and arrested 1,061 individuals linked to the illicit trade over the past five years, officials revealed on Thursday.
Superintendent of Police (SP) of the Anti-Narcotic Task Force (ANTF), Giri Prasad, said that nearly half of the seized substances have already been destroyed at the Star Cement factory in East Jaintia Hills.
The seizures include 41,000 grams of heroin, 12,716 kgs of ganja, 2 kgs of opium, 76 kgs of yaba tablets, 14 kgs of crystal meth, 16 kgs of other psychotropic substances, and 1.74 lakh bottles of codeine-based cough syrup.
Prasad noted that drug trafficking cases have shown a worrying upward trend between 2023 and 2025, with close to 100 arrests made this year alone. He categorized trafficking into two types: consumer-based, which targets Meghalaya’s youth, and transit-based, where drugs are smuggled through the state to other destinations.
“Due to intensified checking, traffickers are exploring alternative routes, but we have been successful in intercepting such cases in recent years,” Prasad said.
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The ANTF has been concentrating its operations at vulnerable entry and exit points, particularly in Ri Bhoi and East Jaintia Hills districts along the national highway. A recent joint operation with East Jaintia Hills police led to the seizure of contraband worth ₹4 crore in a single day.
Looking ahead, the ANTF is set to receive K9 units in November, which will further bolster its capability to detect narcotics and strengthen Meghalaya’s anti-drug enforcement efforts.
