Illegal Migrants Into Ganja Cultivation in Northeast India

Shillong, Aug 3 : Terming smuggling of ganja as an ‘alarming problem’ in the Northeast, a top customs official today said most of the ganja cultivation in the region was being done by illegal migrants.

We destroyed over 50 bighas of illicit opium cultivation in Assam last year and in most cases it was found that the cultivators were of suspected nationality.

Most of the ganja is grown in the unkempt riverine belts, North East Commissioner of Customs (Preventive) S R Baruah said. He said the cultivators even use power-tillers, fertilizers and irrigation facilities, resulting in high yielding bushes.

The illegal migrants, mostly from Bangladesh, cultivate it on contract basis for the smugglers. The profit margin for the cultivators is about Rs 300 per kg, Baruah told PTI.

He said Guwahati had become a transit route for the movement of the illegal ganja from Northeast to other parts of the country particularly the eastern and northern parts.

Customs had on Saturday seized a truck-load of ganja (1800 kg) worth Rs one crore at Nongpoh in Meghalaya.

The ganja came from Manipur, though it was loaded in Dimapur in Nagaland, and was bound for Guwahati from where, Customs officials said, it would be taken outside the region.

Even in Manipur, Baruah said, the cultivation of Opium was being done by suspected nationals. The smugglers keep on changing the routes.

Some take the Manipur-Dimapur-Numaligarh route and some pass it through Silchar-Shillong etc. They also use different goods as camouflage.

In Saturday’s case, the ganja was concealed under five tonnes of scrap items.'' ''It is seen that more than one truck is used to ferry the ganja out of the region and the off-loading and reloading is done generally in Guwahati, Baruah said.

The smugglers also often use train to ferry the ganja. During the first quarter of this financial year, the customs has seized contraband goods valued at Rs 15.63 crore in the region.