Pubdate: Tue, 08 Feb 2005
Source: Telegraph, The (India)
Copyright: 2005 The Telegraph
Contact: +91-33-22368169
Website: http://www.telegraphindia.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2836
Author: Nishit Dholabhai
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

ARMS COME FREE WITH DRUGS IN OPIUM HUB

Myanmarese Peddlers Infiltrate Border Villages Of Nagaland With 9 Mm 
Pistols As Freebies

Moya -- Marketing-savvy narcotics dealers active along the Indo-Myanmar 
border in Nagaland have come up with their own version of the ever-enticing 
freebie  with every kg of opium, they are giving away a 9 mm pistol at no 
extra cost.

One of the hubs for such clandestine drug deals is Moya village of Kiphire 
district, where a state government power project lies in disuse. Myanmarese 
nationals come to the village, which is less than 40 km from the 
international border, to barter wool, batteries and salt for tribal 
machetes, cheap Myanmarese rum and whiskey.

Drug dealers come regularly, too, and peddle kanni (opium) more openly than 
anyone can imagine. The arms that they offer for free are generally those 
smuggled in by Myanmarese drug barons from China and Thailand for their own 
use.

Though the barter system is bringing prosperity to the villages, Moya 
village council chairman S. Kiusumew expressed concern over the sale of 
drugs on the sly and the offer of arms as freebies. He blamed the 
governments apathy towards the border villages for the growth of the 
narcotics trade.

A policeman, one of the few manning the rundown police outpost in the area, 
admitted to knowing about the offer of a free 9 mm pistol with a kg of 
opium. It is to cover the risk which the buyer takes, he said.

Sources said these buyers were not the actual consumers. From the village, 
the opium finds its way to other parts of the country via Dimapur. In 
December last year, Dimapur police found a kg of pure heroin while randomly 
checking vehicles. The forensic report confirmed the heroins purity, 
Dimapur superintendent of police Janardan Singh said.

Singh said the drugs were being smuggled into Nagaland from Myanmar through 
a well-organised network spanning all the border districts.

Kiusumew said the peddlers prefer the Mimi route as they speak the same 
dialect  Mokuri  as the people on the Indian side and, therefore, face 
fewer problems. Inter-marriages across the border also make the passage of 
drugs easier.

Mimi village is the last major habitation on the Indian side on way to the 
Myanmar border. The drug lords send their men to Mimi via Tepero in Myanmar 
with the contraband. It is then sent to the rest of the country.

Kiusumew said neglect by the state government, lack of education and 
opportunity for employment had made matters worse with the youth taking 
recourse to methods that bring in easy money.
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MAP posted-by: Beth