Galloping drug menace

In recent years, the drug supply in India has become a major concern for the country's central agencies. So far, data for the current year (2022) shows that till October, the narcotic seizure has been highest in comparison with the past years.

According to the data, in the national capital alone, there has been a big spike in the cases of drug recovery as well as of the number of drug peddlers arrested. The city police, meanwhile, seized over 144 kg of high-quality heroin this year while it was only 16.324 kg in 2021. In the ongoing year, till November, Delhi police has recovered more than 4,297 kg of Marijuana (Ganja) while in 2021 the quantity of the seized contraband was approximately 2,350 kg. When it comes to Charas (Hashish), the seizer this year till November was 44.580 kg while in the year 2021 it was 37 kg, the data shows. Over 56 kg of opium has also been recovered in the present year till November while in 2021 the opium seized by the Delhi police was seven kg.

Meanwhile, the number of accused persons arrested this year till November is 1,378. This is way higher than the 96 persons nabbed under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in 2021.

It may be pertinent to note here that the ambit of such seizers is not limited to Delhi. Other states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal etc. have also witnessed large number of drug recoveries during the same period. Apart from the Delhi police, other agencies like Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and respective state police have also cracked the large seizures of drugs. Last year, India's law enforcement agencies seized heroin worth more than the annual budget of various states, data shared by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has revealed, which pegged the seizure at 5,651.68 kilograms of the banned substance. The biggest seizure last year of 3,000 kilograms of heroin from Mundra port of Gujarat in 2021 cost close to Rs 40,000 crores. It may be important to note here that this is not the total amount of heroin seized in India. It is just the amount taken over by various drug law enforcement agencies in states having international boundaries.

Meanwhile, this year, the Customs Department (Delhi zone) seized over 37 kg of fine quality cocaine worth Rs 509 crores till October. This, again, is multiple times higher than 3.8 kgs cocaine worth Rs 56.88 crores seized in 2021. However, the heroin recovered this year by the Customs Department (Delhi zone) is a bit lower than the previous year — the department recovered over 70.5 kg of heroin worth Rs 445.25 crores, which is over 122 kgs in 2021 valued at Rs 861.31 crores, seized from Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport New Delhi.

The NCB recovered 252.01 kg of opium during the last year from states including Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tripura etc.; and 15,452.134 kg of heroin in which Uttar Pradesh was at the highest position. Apart from this, a total of 26,547.94 kg of Ganja was also recovered.

It is interesting to note how the peddlers supply the drugs using a broad range of innovative ideas. In some cases, it was seen that the arrested person carried the psychotropic substance inside a specially-designed suitcase with a cavity to hide drugs. In some other cases, the person swallowed cocaine-filled capsules but was caught during the X-ray scan. In one case, a passenger was caught under suspicion with a handbag. During the search, over a kilogram of drug was recovered from the specially designed handbag he was holding.

Notably, a very evident conspiracy, and the resultant increase in the exchange rate, is being noticed in and around the Eastern part of the country — especially in the Bangladesh borderline areas of Basirhat, Bangaon and Murshidabad. According to sources, after the recovery of 22,000 kgs of material from Guwahati, NCB has actively sealed Assam and Meghalaya borders. Still, borderlines adjacent to Sylhet in Cherrapunji continue to grapple with high rates of smuggling. It may be pertinent to highlight here that Bangladesh elections and money transaction rates on Narco exchanges are directly proportional. Siliguri, the silk route and even the seven sisters are contributing significantly to the cocaine, heroin and charas exchanges.

On the other hand, the Special Cell intercepted a container loaded with 22 tons of liquorice (Mulethi), coated with heroin worth Rs 1,725 crores, from Nhava Sheva Port of Mumbai. In another case, the Special Cell arrested two Afghan nationals from Delhi with over 312 kg of narcotic drug methamphetamine worth over Rs 1,200 crores in the international market. Conventionally, opium has been serving as the base to prepare morphine, heroin, cocaine, smack, brown sugar etc. However, gradually, chemical-based drugs like Methamphetamine, Meow-Meow, LSD, MDMA etc. have become very popular among the youth. In terms of pricing, cocaine costs Rs 7,000-8,000/gm in the local market, heroin costs Rs 3,000 to 5,000/gm, high-quality charas (Malana cream) costs around Rs 4,000 to 6,000/10gm and MDMA costs Rs 1,500 to 2,000 per tablet.

An official mentioned that in the recent past, best-quality opium cultivation, and then manufacturing of heroin from it, is taking place in Afghanistan and Myanmar.

A senior official from the Special Cell said that for a couple of years, the drugs have been coming to India via a new route —Afghanistan-Iran-Saudi Arabia-India — with the help of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency. The drug recently recovered from the Mumbai port as well as from the Mundra port was supplied through the same route. Apart from these cases, 200 kg of heroin worth Rs 1,200 crores was caught in a joint operation of the Indian Navy and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in Kochi of Kerala. Years before, the route to supply drugs was Pakistan-Nepal-India.

In September 2022, a major exchange of prisoners took place between the United States and Taliban-ruled Afghanistan wherein top drug lord Bashir Noorzai was released by the US in exchange for American national Mark Frerichs — a Navy veteran and contractor, abducted in Afghanistan in January 2020. Notorious drug lord Noorzai, who was imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay, was released after spending 17 years and six months in American custody. He is known as the Pablo Escobar of the Middle East. A host of major drug consignments are said to be associated with Drug lord Bashir Noorzai.

Meanwhile, the matter raised the eyebrows of the investigating agencies, as narco-terrorism has increased rapidly in the country over a couple of years. The drugs from across the border are sent to India to the gangsters or sleeper cells active in the country. Thereafter, they sell the drugs and collect huge amounts of money. This money has been used to buy high-end weapons from Pakistan and later used to carry out terrorist activities in India. In October 2020, Shaurya Chakra awardee comrade Balwinder Singh Sandhu was shot dead by unidentified assailants outside his house at Bhikhiwind in Tarn Taran district in Punjab. Later, it was learnt that Sandhu's killing was the result of narco-terrorism.

Views expressed are personal