40,000 kg drugs destroyed in Northeast in virtual presence of Amit Shah

About 40,000 kg of drugs, seized by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and agencies of the Northeastern states, were destroyed on Saturday in the virtual presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

While 11,000 kg of drugs, seized by the NCB, were destroyed in Guwahati, another 8,000 kg of narcotics, seized by the Assam government agencies, were also set on fire.

"Approx 40,000 kg of drugs were destroyed in Northeastern states in presence of Union Home Minister, Shri @AmitShah. By NCB in Guwahati- 11,000 kg, Assam- 8,000 kg, Arunachal Pradesh- 4000 kg, Meghalaya- 1600 kg, Nagaland- 398 kg, Manipur- 1900 kg, Mizoram- 1500 kg, Tripura- 12,000 kg, Shah's office tweeted. The home minister witnessed the destruction of the drugs virtually from Guwahati. Shah is on a three-day visit to Assam.

On Friday, officials said the NCB, which functions under the Ministry of Home Affairs, is running a special mission from June 1 to destroy confiscated drugs. On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of Independence, the NCB had decided that during this special campaign of 75 days, 75,000 kg of drugs will be destroyed by all regional units of the bureau.

The NCB achieved the target in just 60 days, well before the deadline, and reiterated its commitment to the nation regarding the fight against the drug abuse. Around 82,000 kg of seized drugs were destroyed by July 30, officials said.

Under this campaign, during a national conference held on July 30 in Chandigarh, the home minister started the process of destroying 31,000 kg of narcotics by various field units of the NCB through virtual medium. During this special extermination drive from June 1-7, about 1,09,000 kg of confiscated narcotics were destroyed by the NCB, officials said.