458 acres of illegal cannabis destroyed in Arunachal's West Kameng

Anti-narcotics agencies have destroyed illegal cannabis cultivation spread over about 458 acres in Arunachal Pradesh's West Kameng district, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) said.

The operation, led by the NCB's Itanagar zonal unit, was carried out in the Kalaktang subdivision between October 26 and November 3. Teams destroyed more than 1.37 lakh kg of cannabis plants, most of them grown on community land in rugged hill terrain.

Satellite images guided the teams

A total of 118 personnel and workers took part. They were drawn from the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Arunachal Pradesh Anti-Narcotics Task Force, West Kameng Police and the district administration.

The state police and district officials carried out ground surveys, while the NCB supplied satellite imagery that helped pinpoint the plots. Officials say growers deliberately pick remote, high slopes to avoid detection, which is why the bureau has turned to mapping from space.

Eight times last year's total

According to the NCB, the area of illegal cannabis destroyed across Arunachal Pradesh so far in 2026 is more than eight times the total for the whole of 2025.

The bureau said it has also mapped suspected cannabis and opium poppy hotspots elsewhere in the state. The next joint drives will focus on poppy-growing areas in Lohit, Lower Dibang Valley, Dibang Valley, Namsai, Anjaw, Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts.

Part of a national plan

The operation falls under the Vision Document on Narcotics Control (2026-2029), which calls for mapping cultivation hotspots and destroying illicit crops through coordination between central, state and district agencies, which the NCB describes as a whole-of-government approach.

Similar drives have recently cleared around 592 acres of cannabis in Himachal Pradesh's Parvati Valley in Kullu and about 30 acres in Odisha's Kandhamal district.

Drives across the region

The Arunachal operation comes alongside a push against opium poppy in Manipur, where security forces recently destroyed about 45 acres of poppy on the Thangjing hill range.

How to report

The NCB has asked people to share information on illegal cultivation or drug trafficking confidentially through the MANAS National Narcotics Helpline on the toll-free number 1933.