Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has raised concern over the emergence of a new drug trafficking corridor linking Myanmar with Upper Assam through Arunachal Pradesh’s Changlang district and Tinsukia.
Speaking to reporters, Sarma said drug traffickers were increasingly shifting away from the traditional Myanmar-Moreh-Manipur route and attempting to move narcotics through Changlang into Assam.
“Earlier, drugs were coming from Myanmar through the Moreh-Manipur route. But now a new route has emerged from Myanmar through Arunachal Pradesh’s Changlang district to Tinsukia. Drug peddlers who were recently arrested revealed details about this new route,” Sarma said.
He described the development as a “very worrying signal” for Upper Assam and stressed the need for sustained enforcement along the emerging corridor.
The chief minister said Assam had intensified its crackdown on narcotics and had recently seized a large consignment of drugs allegedly destined for Punjab.
“We have recently seized around Rs 80 crore worth of drugs which were ready to be transported to Punjab. It is one of the biggest consignments seized by the department. The drug menace has been increasing on a daily basis,” Sarma said.
In a post on X, Sarma said drug networks were attempting to change routes in response to the state’s intensified crackdown.
“Wary of our relentless crackdown on drugs, the mafia is now attempting a new route from Myanmar through Arunachal Pradesh,” he said, adding that changing routes would not weaken the government’s resolve to dismantle drug networks.
The development has drawn attention to the strategic vulnerability of the Assam-Arunachal border, particularly given Arunachal Pradesh’s direct border with Myanmar.
An official said narcotics manufactured in clandestine facilities in Myanmar were increasingly being routed through Arunachal Pradesh before entering Assam.
“Drugs produced mostly in drug factories in Myanmar are trafficked into India through Arunachal Pradesh because of its border with Myanmar. Changlang has now emerged as one of the routes through which drugs are entering India,” the official said.
Arunachal Pradesh has also stepped up its campaign against the illicit drug trade, with authorities launching intensified enforcement operations and arresting several suspected peddlers.
The emerging route also puts the spotlight on the wider network of roads and remote border corridors across the region. The historic Stilwell Road, which connects Assam with Myanmar and China, has previously been flagged by security and enforcement agencies as vulnerable to unlawful cross-border movement because of the difficult and porous terrain through which it passes.
The latest developments have renewed concerns that drug trafficking networks could be adapting their routes to evade intensified enforcement along established corridors.
Myanmar remains a major source of illicit opium and synthetic drugs in the region and forms a key part of the transnational narcotics trade centred around the Golden Triangle, the border region where Myanmar, Thailand and Laos meet.
With enforcement agencies tightening surveillance along traditional routes, the emergence of the Myanmar-Changlang-Tinsukia corridor could pose a fresh challenge to Assam’s efforts to curb the flow of narcotics into the state and beyond.