Manipur’s security agencies have logged a string of narcotics seizures and arrests over the past three months, spanning Churachandpur, Bishnupur, Thoubal and Chandel districts, in what officials describe as a sustained push against drug trafficking routes running through the state’s border with Myanmar.

The largest of the recent hauls came from a joint operation by the Narcotics Control Bureau, Assam Rifles and Manipur Police, which recovered 474 soap cases of heroin, weighing approximately 5.4 kilograms and valued at roughly ₹11 crore, from an illicit drug market in Churachandpur on the night of April 23 into April 24. The contraband was found concealed in a fabricated cavity inside a Mahindra Bolero Camper. Three men, all residents of Churachandpur district, were arrested; officials said they had obtained the consignment from across the border in Myanmar. The NCB said further investigation was underway to trace the trafficking network’s wider links.

In Bishnupur district, security forces intercepted an autorickshaw at Gelmol Lamkhai under Moirang police station in mid-July and arrested three occupants after recovering approximately 68 grams of suspected heroin powder. Days later, on July 15, police raided a house in Thoubal district’s Lilong area and arrested Syed Anish Shah, alias Leirang, 46, seizing 144 SP capsules along with roughly ₹16.43 lakh in cash suspected to be drug proceeds. The arrest has since been independently reported by regional outlets, which cited police as saying the raid followed specific intelligence and that a probe into the money trail was ongoing.

On July 22, police arrested a 52-year-old woman, identified as Tinnei Thadou of Chandel district, from the Songjang Khopi area of Churachandpur, recovering approximately 1.6 kilograms of suspected brown sugar from her possession.

Separately, the Assam Rifles announced on July 23 that it had seized heroin worth about ₹1.2 crore in a joint operation with Cachar district police. The force’s own statement placed the seizure at Jirighat, which lies in Cachar district, Assam, not Manipur, despite an internal reference in the same post naming Manipur; the operation’s own headline correctly identified it as being “in Assam.” Approximately 234 grams of heroin, concealed in 20 soap cases, was recovered, and one trafficker was apprehended and handed over to Cachar police.

Officials have repeatedly framed the seizures as part of a broader effort to choke off narcotics moving along Golden Triangle-linked routes that cut through Manipur and its neighbouring states. The Narcotics Control Bureau has urged citizens to report suspected drug activity through its MANAS helpline, 1933, saying informants’ identities are kept confidential.