‘Udta Mizoram’: The Northeast Crisis Punjab Never Had
Northeast Drug crisis. (A representative image)
New survey data and security experts reveal the five states with highest per capita drug consumption are all in India’s northeast, with Punjab ranking a distant sixth
By NIRENDRA DEV
New Delhi, March 12, 2026 — India’s drug abuse crisis has a new and alarming geography — and it is not where most people assumed.
Contrary to the popular narrative shaped by Bollywood and political discourse, Punjab ranks only sixth in per capita drug consumption nationally. The top five states are all in India’s northeast, according to revelations made at a high-level seminar on ‘Security Challenges to the Northeast: Assessment and Way Forward.’
A former military officer with deep knowledge of the region laid out the data starkly: Mizoram leads at approximately 7 per cent per capita consumption, followed by Nagaland at 6.5 per cent, Arunachal Pradesh at 5.7 per cent, Sikkim at 5.1 per cent, and Manipur at 4.5 per cent. The national average, by comparison, stands at just 1.68 per cent — making the northeast’s figures not just alarming but extraordinary.
“Generally, we all talk of Udta Punjab; Punjab is actually only number sixth. The first top five states are in the northeast,” the official said.
The crisis in Mizoram has been sharply aggravated by a surge in illegal cross-border migration from Myanmar. As violence escalated in Myanmar, Kuki-Chin communities crossed into Mizoram in large numbers, and security sources warn that drug trafficking has followed. “Some of these people who come from across the border can easily carry a packet or two, and there is huge money in it,” one source noted.
The consequences are devastating. The calendar year 2025 recorded 118 drug-related deaths in Mizoram — the highest toll in two decades — bringing cumulative fatalities to 1,990 since 1984. Law enforcement seized narcotics worth over ₹1,047 crore in 2025-26 alone, including heroin, methamphetamine, and crystal meth. Situated within the notorious Golden Triangle, Mizoram launched the ‘Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan’ in August 2025 in response. Estimates suggest the northeast’s drug trade generated approximately ₹7,524 crore over the past four to five years, with the majority of users being young adults aged 18 to 39.
Nagaland presents an equally grave picture. An estimated 1.2 lakh people are now drug users in the state, with roughly 30 kilograms consumed daily. Nagaland DGP Rupin Sharma warned in November that only an “integrated, intelligence-driven and tech-led strategy” could dismantle cross-border drug networks — a scenario he described as a “ticking time-bomb.”
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