Operation Trident Gives New Weight to Former CM N Biren Singh’s Warnings on Drug Cartels

Former Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh had repeatedly warned that the drug menace in Manipur was not merely a problem of poppy cultivation or local trafficking. He spoke of powerful narcotics networks operating across international borders, with their influence extending into the state. Operation Trident has now brought those warnings back into focus. The latest findings give considerable weight to his concerns about the scale and reach of the drug trade.

According to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, investigating agencies carried out simultaneous operations at 38 locations across Assam, Mizoram and Manipur on October 23. Authorities reported uncovering ₹100 crore in alleged hawala transactions, freezing 1,424 bank accounts and attaching properties worth ₹17.82 crore. Eighteen people were arrested, while 500 detonators and ₹12 lakh in cash were seized.

The figures are disturbing, not simply because of the amount of money involved, but because of what they suggest about the organisation behind the trade. Narcotics trafficking on this scale cannot be sustained by local carriers alone. It requires suppliers, financiers, intermediaries and people who can move money across borders. For Manipur, already struggling with the consequences of drug abuse and trafficking, the implications go beyond law enforcement. They concern public health, governance and the security of the state.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the central agencies involved and the participating state police forces deserve recognition for this coordinated operation. Investigations spanning several states demand intelligence sharing, financial scrutiny and cooperation between agencies. The officers pursuing the organisers and financiers of such networks must receive continued institutional support. One operation, however extensive, cannot dismantle a trade that has developed over years.

The details reported by National Media offer a clearer picture of how the alleged network operated. Myanmar-based organisers reportedly employed local carriers to transport narcotics consignments. According to the Enforcement Directorate findings cited in the report, bank accounts in Champhai, Aizawl and Lawngtlai received proceeds from the drug trade and helped settle payments with suppliers in Myanmar.

This is where the real challenge lies. Arresting someone carrying a consignment may stop one delivery, but it does not necessarily reach the people who arranged the shipment or financed it. Those collecting the profits may be far removed from the person caught transporting the drugs. Unless investigators follow both the narcotics and the money, the larger network can survive the arrest of its carriers.

Churachandpur was among the locations covered by Operation Trident, along with Aizawl, Champhai and Zokhawthar in Mizoram and the Cachar transit corridor in Assam. The spread of these locations shows why Manipur cannot fight the narcotics trade in isolation. Cooperation with neighbouring states and central agencies is essential. At the same time, the inclusion of a particular town or district in an investigation must not be taken as evidence against its people. Criminal responsibility belongs to individuals and organisations, and must be established through evidence.

It is against this background that former CM N Biren Singh's War on Drugs campaign deserves to be reconsidered.

A government account records that he declared the campaign in November 2018. His administration subsequently pursued enforcement measures while also introducing initiatives intended to discourage substance abuse among students. Whatever differences of opinion exist over the implementation and results of the campaign, there is little doubt that N Biren made the drug problem one of the prominent issues of his administration.

His warnings were not confined to narcotics cultivation within Manipur. He repeatedly drew attention to threats coming from across the international border. In May 2026, he described attacks on Namlee, Wanglee and Choro in Kamjong district as cross-border terrorism carried out by external forces. On another occasion, he warned that drug trafficking through the Northeast had become a national threat.

These statements reflected his belief that Manipur's drug problem had to be understood within a larger security context. Operation Trident now provides official investigative findings supporting the international dimension of the narcotics threat he had been warning about.

The Home Ministry has described a syndicate involved in routing methamphetamine and heroin from Myanmar through northeastern states towards mainland India and Bangladesh. Its account points to an organised network of suppliers, facilitators and financial intermediaries. The findings support Biren's central argument that the narcotics trade confronting Manipur extends far beyond local cultivation and distribution.

The question of terrorism, however, requires separate examination. The seizure of 500 detonators is a serious matter. Investigators must establish where they came from, who possessed them and what they were intended for. Their recovery alone does not prove that the alleged drug cartel financed a particular militant organisation or carried out an attack. Such connections, if they exist, must be demonstrated through evidence capable of standing in court.

There is another question that deserves attention. Did Biren's campaign against the drug trade provoke resistance from people whose financial interests were threatened? This possibility should not be dismissed without examination.

A serious campaign against illicit cultivation, trafficking and money laundering is bound to affect those who profit from these activities. The people transporting narcotics may be the most visible participants, but the money often reaches others who remain outside the immediate reach of enforcement agencies. When investigations begin to threaten financiers and those protecting the trade, the interests at stake become much larger.

It is therefore reasonable to ask whether individuals benefiting from the narcotics economy attempted to obstruct the campaign or weaken those leading it. This is a question for investigation, not a conclusion that can be drawn from Operation Trident alone.

N Biren himself had alleged such resistance. In an October 2023 interview with National Media, he claimed that the drug mafia had targeted his government and exploited existing social vulnerabilities to create unrest. His allegation was serious then, and it remains serious today. 

The distinction is particularly important in Manipur, where public grievances arising from violence, displacement and failures of protection remain serious. Families who have suffered have every right to question the government and demand accountability. Their anger cannot be dismissed as the work of drug cartels. Genuine public criticism and any attempt by criminal interests to exploit a crisis are two different matters. 

The responsibility now rests with the present government and the investigating agencies. Operation Trident must lead to sustained enforcement, careful investigation and prosecutions supported by evidence. Officers pursuing the drug trade should be protected from pressure, regardless of the influence of those under investigation.

N Biren's War on Drugs campaign should ultimately be judged by whether the effort he began can produce such lasting results. His commitment to confronting the trade deserves recognition, but that recognition will mean more if the campaign continues with stronger investigation, better coordination and greater accountability.

Operation Trident has brought an important reality into sharper view. The drug economy affecting Manipur is connected to international suppliers, local facilitators and financial networks operating across borders. This was the danger Biren Singh repeatedly warned about, and the latest official findings lend weight to his warning.

His allegations concerning terrorism and attempts to destabilise his government still require independent proof. They should neither be accepted without evidence nor dismissed without examination.

But on the central question of the scale and international reach of the narcotics trade, Biren's warnings can no longer be casually brushed aside. Operation Trident has provided grounds to take them seriously. The challenge now is to ensure that the investigation reaches beyond the carriers to those who finance, organise and profit from the trade.

For Manipur, that would be a more meaningful outcome than any political argument over who was right. The state needs the drug networks dismantled, their financial connections exposed and the next generation protected from the damage they have caused.