Guwahati, 20th February: Assam Member of Parliament, Gaurav Gogoi, penned a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expressing grave concerns over the rampant smuggling of Burmese areca nuts and narcotics from Myanmar into Northeast India.
Highlighting the alarming situation, Gogoi emphasized the smuggling of areca nuts and drugs through the porous Indo-Myanmar border in Manipur and Mizoram. He urged the Prime Minister to intervene in addressing this pressing issue.
“In recent media coverage, the concerning frequency of truck entries at the Merapani border in Assam has come to light, indicating the influx of smuggled Myanmar-origin areca nuts, colloquially known as Burmese supari, into our country via the porous India-Myanmar border in Mizoram and Manipur. Subsequently, these smuggled areca nuts are distributed to gutkha industries in Kanpur, Lucknow, and West Bengal, bypassing customs duties and regulations,” stated Gogoi in his letter.
Additionally, Gogoi shed light on the rampant drug trade occurring through the Myanmar border into Northeast India, citing the smuggling of heroin, opium, Yaba Tablets, Morphine, Methamphetamine tablets, and foreign currencies. He underscored the significant revenue loss for the government and the threats posed to public health by these illicit activities.
In his appeal to Prime Minister Modi, Gogoi urged for decisive action against smuggling networks, emphasizing the need to strengthen border security, enhance surveillance measures, and crack down on smuggling activities effectively. He stressed the urgency of the situation and called for immediate intervention to combat the smuggling nexus and restore public trust in governance.
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