Security forces in Manipur’s Tengnoupal district have destroyed around five acres of illegal poppy cultivation as part of an intensified crackdown on the state’s drug supply chain.

The latest operation was carried out on January 27 in the hill ranges of Machi under Machi Police Station. Officials said the drive forms part of an ongoing multi-agency campaign targeting both narcotics trafficking and illicit cultivation across Manipur.

In a related development, security personnel arrested a 65-year-old man, identified as Hriili Kaihrii, at the Phougakchao Ikhai Bazar checkpoint in Bishnupur district on January 19. Kaihrii, a resident of Mayangkhang Khunou in Kangpokpi district, was found in possession of eight soap cases containing suspected heroin weighing about 94 grams. The arrest was made under the jurisdiction of Phougakchao Ikhai Police Station.

Earlier, on January 18, Manipur Police apprehended Md Ajmir Hussain (39) from the Tengdongyan area under Sekmai Police Station in Imphal West district. Hussain, a resident of Chingdong Leikai in Jiribam district, was allegedly carrying 310 grams of heroin No. 4, a highly refined form of the narcotic.

Meanwhile, on January 19, a joint team comprising security forces, the Forest Department, the Narcotics Affairs Bureau and an executive magistrate conducted a large-scale poppy destruction drive at Dampi under Sangaikot Police Station in Churachandpur district. During the operation, about 22 acres of poppy cultivation were uprooted and destroyed. Three temporary huts erected at the site were also set ablaze, and 10 samples of poppy plants along with pods were seized for further investigation.
Officials said the back-to-back operations highlight a strengthened strategy aimed at dismantling the entire narcotics network, from cultivation to trafficking.

Authorities reiterated that such coordinated drives will continue to curb the drug menace and address its serious law-and-order, health and social impacts in Manipur.