Driving road roller over seized narcotics, Himanta Biswa Sarma kicks off massive anti-drug campaign

3 min readJul 12, 2026 08:42 PM IST

Sarma said that in the last five years, during his first term as Chief Minister, 3,300 cases were registered under the NDPS Act and narcotics substances worth Rs 3,227 were seized. (Image: @himantabiswa/X)

Resolving to “end Assam being used as a transit route for drugs”, the Assam government on Sunday kicked off a campaign to destroy seized narcotic substances worth over Rs 400 crore, with Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma flagging it off by driving a road roller over hundreds of seized cough syrup bottles.

According to the Assam Police, seized narcotics worth Rs 472.51 crore are being destroyed in different parts of the state. Of these, drugs worth around Rs 300 crore are being destroyed at the 14th Assam Police Battalion campus in Nalbari district, which has been equipped with an incinerator for the purpose.

Police said these include 58.88 kg of heroin with a market value of Rs 117.75 crore; 37,796.34 kg of ganja (Rs 188.98 crore); 2,29,449 cough syrup bottles (Rs 22.94 crore); 18,70,922 Yaba tablets, including methamphetamine (Rs 78.84 crore); 39.07 kg of morphine (Rs 39.07 crore); and 79.77 kg of opium (Rs 3.98 crore).

Speaking at the launch of this drive at Nalbari, Chief Minister Sarma said the Assam government will further crack down on drug distribution networks in the state, saying that the state government is concerned about Assam growing as a transit route for heroin, methamphetamine and Yaba tablets, which he said enter the country from Myanmar through Manipur and Mizoram, and are smuggled through Assam to different parts of the country.

Challenges

Sarma said that in the last five years, during his first term as Chief Minister, 3,300 cases were registered under the NDPS Act and narcotics substances worth Rs 3,227 were seized. However, when asked about action against “kingpins” in the drug trade, Sarma said that there are challenges, pointing especially to inter-state and international networks.

“It is very challenging to crack down on drug trafficking networks because the main traffickers sit abroad, and several layers of agents and sub-agents are used. But one thing is for sure, if the governments of Manipur, Mizoram, Assam, and West Bengal relentlessly fight against drug traffickers, and we are able to give them exemplary punishment, then we will surely be able to end Assam being used as a transit route,” he said.

Special DGP (CID) M P Gupta told The Indian Express that most of the seizures are made in districts bordering Mizoram and Manipur, and then further down the transit route towards Guwahati, such as Cachar, Sribhumi, Karbi Anglong, Dima Hasao and Nagaon.

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Sukrita Baruah is a Principal Correspondent for The Indian Express, based in Guwahati. From this strategic hub, she provides comprehensive, ground-level coverage of India's North East, a region characterized by its complex ethnic diversity, geopolitical significance, and unique developmental challenges.

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