In a major blow to the international drug trafficking network operating through India’s Northeast, the CRPF and Manipur Police have jointly seized over 2 kg of suspected heroin worth ₹15 crore. The narcotics were smuggled from Myanmar and intercepted at Tupul Bridge in Noney district
BY PC Bureau
July 10 — In a significant breakthrough against cross-border narcotics trafficking, a joint team of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Manipur Police arrested two individuals and seized over two kilograms of suspected heroin, smuggled from Myanmar, during an operation conducted over the past 24 hours.
Acting on a credible tip-off, security personnel intercepted a red-colored vehicle near the Tupul Bridge on National Highway 37 in Manipur’s Noney district on Wednesday. The vehicle was reportedly transporting contraband from Churachandpur district—located along the porous Indo-Myanmar border—en route to Kangpokpi in the north.
READ: NER Gender Gap Widens: Nagaland, Mizoram Lead, Manipur Lags
Upon a thorough search of the vehicle, officials recovered 196 soap cases filled with a white powdery substance suspected to be heroin or brown sugar. The total weight of the seized substance was 2.193 kilograms (excluding packaging).
On 09.07.2025, joint team of Manipur Police and CRPF intercepted one 04-wheeler vehicle at Tupul bridge coming from Churachandpur towards Kangpokpi and seized 196 soap cases containing suspected heroin/ brown sugar weighing 2.193 kg excluding the case, from the vehicle.
Two… pic.twitter.com/S0lx7Nax87— Manipur Police (@manipur_police) July 9, 2025
Two individuals in the car were taken into custody. They were identified as Ginminlen Haokip (24), a resident of G. Phaibung, Motbung in Kangpokpi district, and Holminlen Khongsai (30) from Khangbarol village in Chandel district. Both are reportedly members of the Kuki-Zo community.
Initial estimates place the value of the seized narcotics at approximately ₹15 crore in the regional black market.
The arrested individuals, along with the contraband and the vehicle, have been handed over to Noney Police Station for further investigation. Legal proceedings will be pursued under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, as amended by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023.
Authorities suspect the operation to be part of a broader drug trafficking network using Manipur’s international border with Myanmar as a transit route. Further interrogations and follow-up operations are expected.
