Myanmar Overtakes Afghanistan as Global Opium Hub, NCB Warns India's Eastern Borders at Risk
Following the Taliban's 2022 ban on drugs in Afghanistan, Myanmar has emerged as the primary global source of opium, with consequences already evident along India's eastern borders, according to the Narcotics Control Bureau's (NCB) 2026 annual report. The report, released on June 26, 2026, by Home Minister Amit Shah, highlights that the northeastern states of Manipur, Mizoram, and Nagaland are bearing the brunt of this shift due to enhanced drug production in Myanmar.
The NCB report notes that Myanmar's illicit opium cultivation expanded by approximately 56% between 2021 and 2023, with poppy cultivation reaching 45,200 hectares. Porous border mechanisms, including the Free Movement Regime (FMR) along the India-Myanmar border, have transformed these states from transit zones into active distribution hubs for narcotics entering the Indian hinterland. The Manipur corridor, through which National Highway 102 passes, is the primary land entry point for heroin and methamphetamine (Yaba tablets).
A second major trafficking corridor enters India through Champhai in Mizoram, close to Myanmar's Chin State. Drugs are smuggled through unfenced border stretches and routed towards Silchar in Assam's Barak Valley via Aizawl and adjoining roads. In 2025, Mizoram accounted for 1,477 kg of seized amphetamine-type stimulants, out of a national total of 3,485 kg. Other states with significant seizures include Manipur (535 kg), Delhi (454 kg), Gujarat (308 kg), and Karnataka (164 kg).
On the western border, despite the Taliban's 2022 crackdown reducing Afghan opium production by 93%, around 13,200 tonnes of pre-ban narcotics continue to flow into India. The NCB reports a five-fold increase in drone-based drug trafficking from across the Pakistan border, particularly into Punjab. In 2025, there were 305 such incidents, resulting in the seizure of 468 kg of narcotics—a 96% increase over 2024. Punjab alone accounted for 298 cases and 461 kg seized, primarily heroin and methamphetamine. The report notes a sharp growth trajectory: from 3 incidents (10 kg) in 2021 to 305 incidents (468 kg) in 2025.
The NCB warns that this exponential rise reflects the growing operational maturity of trafficking networks using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to bypass border controls. Additional incidents were reported in Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir. The South Asian drug trade from Afghanistan flows through Pakistan into India via land frontiers in Punjab and Rajasthan, as well as maritime routes along the Gujarat and Maharashtra coastlines, where fishing vessels are increasingly used for smuggling.
