NE militants taking up opium cultivation, says Assam Rifles

Various underground militants groups of North-East have now taken up opium cultivation and drugs paddling along the porous Indo-Myanmar border in the region to boost their revenue.

This was revealed on Monday by Assam Rifles, the oldest paramilitary force in the country that guards Indo-Myanmar border apart from conducting counter insurgency operations in the area.

“Various intelligence inputs indicated that NSCN(K), ULFA(I) and KLO are carrying out opium cultivation and trade in Kachin Province of Myanmar. Khaplang cadres are into cultivation and transportation of opium, but the same has been consistently denied by Khaplang,” Assam Rifles stated in a press release.

The force has released photos of top NSCN(K) leader ‘self styled colonel’ Isak Sumi near a poppy cultivation field near the Indo-Myanmar border to prove their claims.Assam Rifles added that the NSCN(K) is thriving on drug trafficking and opium trade.

“On social media Self Styled Colonel Isak Sumi claims that it is poppy crop in the background close to Kachin–China border. NSCN(K) is using the illicit money earned through narcotics to procure weapons, training of their cadres and running camps for training other militant outfits on a purely mercenary basis,” the press statement further added.