The recent arrest, on 22 October 2003, of a former Minister of the Manipur Assembly, along with two of his associates, in possession of a kilogram of heroin by sleuths of the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) in Guwahati is significant in more ways than one.

The grapevines have for quite a long time been ripe with ‘rumors’ of prominent politicians and bureaucrats being involved in the drug business. The arrest of Heinam Lokhon Singh, a former Finance Minister and member of the Manipur State Legislative Assembly for four terms, and his two partners in crime, one an executive member of the Manipur State Congress Party, and the other, a local linkman, besides signaling the coming of age of the enforcement agencies, reveals the politician-drug cartel nexus that have long been suspected and rumored in society circles. It is also important to note that such nexus has been responsible, in a large number of instances, for the ineffectiveness of the enforcement agencies in tackling the drug menace in the region.

That Heinam Lokhon Singh is presently not a legislator hardly dilutes the argument. The raid perhaps was possible only because he had ceased to be either a Minister or a legislator. The sleuths of the Central Narcotics Bureau, Revenue Intelligence and Customs and Excise Department who raided the Hotel would probably have shied away had any of the culprits been a minister or a high ranking bureaucrat enjoying official accommodation and protection. The possibility, and perhaps a proofâ€â€