ITANAGAR — The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), in coordination with the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Arunachal Pradesh Police, has destroyed illicit cannabis cultivation spread across approximately 458 acres in West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh, according to an official press release reported by IANS on Saturday, November 7.

Source: IANS via hi INDiA

The joint operation was conducted in the Kalaktang subdivision of West Kameng in the first phase of the anti-narcotics drive, which took place from October 26 to November 3. During the operation, the teams destroyed more than 1.37 lakh kg of cannabis plants, primarily cultivated on community lands, the release said.

Source: IANS via hi INDiA

The operation was led by the NCB's Itanagar Zonal Unit and involved 118 personnel and workers, with participation from the SSB, CRPF, the Arunachal Pradesh Anti-Narcotics Task Force, West Kameng Police and the district administration, IANS reported. Nation Press carried the same official figures in its report of the drive.

Source: Nation Press

Satellite imagery pinpointed the plantations

Ground surveys conducted by the West Kameng Police and the district administration, along with satellite imagery provided by the NCB, helped identify and locate the illicit cultivation sites in the district's rugged terrain, according to the release. Top Indian News reported that the teams worked across difficult mountainous terrain to identify and eliminate the plantations.

Source: Top Indian News

According to the NCB, the area cleared of illicit cannabis cultivation across Arunachal Pradesh so far in 2026 is more than eight times the total area cleared during the entire year in 2025.

Source: IANS via hi INDiA

Poppy districts next, says the agency

The agency has also identified several locations across the state where illicit cannabis and opium poppy are being cultivated. The upcoming drives will focus on opium poppy cultivation areas in Lohit, Lower Dibang Valley, Dibang Valley, Namsai, Anjaw, Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts, the release said.

Source: IANS via hi INDiA

The operation is part of the implementation of the Vision Document on Narcotics Control (2026–2029), which calls for mapping illicit cultivation hotspots and coordinating crop destruction among central, state and district agencies through a 'whole-of-government approach'. Earlier, an NCB-led drive cleared approximately 592 acres of illicit cannabis cultivation in the Parvati Valley of Kullu district in Himachal Pradesh, and in Odisha the bureau took part in the 'Mission Zero Cannabis Cultivation' initiative in Kandhamal and Boudh districts, where around 30 acres were cleared in Kandhamal.

Source: IANS via hi INDiA