Deadly friends from Burma

By Surajit Khaund
Mizzima News (www.mizzima.com)

September 10, 2003: Until recently, Laitumba, Khagen, Samarendra and Dilip were energetic, working round the clock for their family members. Now all that has changed with the four youngsters constantly lethargic and doing no more than lounging around the house. These Manipuri youth aged between 20 to 23 have become victims of drug addiction. Manipur, one of the major states of the Indian north east, bordering Burma, is facing severe threat from increasing drug use as hundreds of young people from the hilly state are forming dependencies on heroin, opium and amphetamines.

"I was a trader based in Moreh and started taking drugs in 1999. Since then I have become handicapped. I have lost everything during the last three years”, said Laitumba, who is now receiving hospital treatment. This is becoming an all too familiar tale of wasted life in Manipur.

Despite vigilance by authorities to contain the spread of drug use, they are concerned that more and more young people from the bordering areas of the state are becoming fresh victims of drug use. The most common drugs being taken are also the most addictive, namely heroin and amphetamine tablets. The problem is aggravated daily due to the constant availability of cheap drugs.

“Drugs are available along the border. It generally comes from Burma and then sent to different destinations as per the demand of the people “, Samarendra and Khagen said. They initially consumed “cheap heroin” and then began taking amphetamines. According to them the ingredients to make amphetamine tablets are sent to Burma by certain Burmese and Indian traders and the finished product is then later brought back to India. Samarendra ,a school drop out from Moreh informed that ephidrine hydrochloride is used in manufacturing amphetamine and is generally sent from India to Burma via different cross border routes.

Samarendra went on to claim that ”Drug trafficking cannot be eliminated in north east India as several “high-ups” of India and Burma are involved in this business." He refused to name the names of people involved in the trafficking.

When asked how they procured heroin and amphetamines, he said that a section of Burmese people living along the border had supplied 'cheap heroin'. "Sometimes they supplied opium when heroin was
scarce. They (Burmese) procured drugs from different sources and then sent them to the region through different points including Moreh." Asked whether the drug traffickers had any problem carrying their consignments, he stated that they had to pay money to different groups.

When asked about the involvement of Indian and Burmese militant groups in the drug trade, he parried the question saying that the drug traffickers had close connections with the 'big shots' and were therefore running their business without any problem.