Around 40,000 kilograms of drugs were destroyed in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the North-Eastern states, the Home Minister's office said on Saturday.


Drugs weighing approximately 11,000 kg in Assam, 8000 kg in Arunachal Pradesh, 4000 kg in Meghalaya, 1600 kg in Nagaland, 398 kg in Manipur, 1900 kg in Mizoram, 1500 kg in Tripura, and 12,000 kg in Tripura were destroyed, according to the Home Minister's tweet.






Amit Shah stated today at a regional meeting on 'Drug Trafficking and National Security' with CMs and DGPs of North-eastern states in Guwahati, "National security can be strengthened if drug trafficking is stopped," news agency PTI reported.








The Home Minister stated that "coordinated efforts between central and state agencies are required to make the country drug free, not drug seizure alone, enforcement agencies must aim at destroying all channels of trafficking," PTI reported.







Earlier in the day, he delivered a speech to a large crowd at the inauguration of the BJP's newest headquarters in Guwahati, the 95,000 square foot Atal Bihari Vajpayee Bhawan, which is the largest office for the party in the northeast.


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While speaking to the public, Shah stated that the government would repeal the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) only after peace is restored in northeast India. 


"Rahul Gandhi gave Congress an agenda to remove AFSPA from thenortheast if they came to power (in 2019), for the sake of appeasement. When it was asked of me, I said we will first bring peace in the northeastand then only will remove AFSPA, which would not happen just forappeasement," Shah said, news agency ANI reported. 


This is Shah's first visit to the state since the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) was extended in the region.


(With Inputs From Agencies)