‘Records show sharp fall in illegal trade of opium’

Trade of illecit opium and poppy husks have witnessed a sharp fall in the national capital from the start of 2014, as far as records are concerned. 

Records of Delhi Police show that only eight kilograms of opium and 105-odd kilograms of poppy husks have been recovered till 31 July this year. In contrast to that, more than 60 kg of opium and 2085 kg poppy husks had been recovered from the city in 2013. 

‘These figures stand despite full alertness and more frequent raids by the police,’ said a senior police official.

For opium, the steep decline of trade is largely because of the consumption pattern, which is more rural-centric and more popular among the elders of society. ‘Large quantities of opium are routed directly to the rural areas in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. It is no longer channelled through Delhi, as the city hardly has any demand for that, said AS Cheema, Additional Commissioner of Police (Special Cell).

He further said that opium demand has been declining overall, ‘because the younger generation has unfortunately moved to other drugs and the elder opium-consuming population is falling down day by day.’ Similarly, poppy husks are directly channelled to the rural areas too, where it is usually given to wage-labourers after getting it crushed and mixed in their tea. 

‘It is believed to increase the physical capacity of the workers, causing long-term damage to their bodies,’ said Cheema.

In 2013, this practice was found to be taken up at certain construction sites mainly in the small towns and villages surrounding the national capital. 

‘This can validate the 2085-odd kg of poppy husks recovered from the city in one single year’, said a senior police official.

‘Opium and poppy husks that are traded in India, is mostly procured from the authorised poppy cultivation belt in the Rajasthan-Madhya Pradesh border and certain parts of Uttar Pradesh’, said AS Cheema, while adding that ‘a bulk of opium also comes from the unauthorised poppy 

fields in Murshidabad and Nadia districts in West Bengal,’ he added.