Menace of heroin widespread in India

New Delhi: In a worrying trend, the Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has seized atleast 920 kg heroin worth Rs 4,300 crore this year from across major cities of India, indicating how widespread the menace of drug consumption is. As per the data shared by the DRI, these seizures have taken place virtually in every part of India.
In February, 700 gm of heroin was seized from the Dimapur-Guwahati highway. This was followed by 8.5 kg of seizure from Ahmedabad international airport, 900 gram from Jaipur international airport, 2.25 kg from Indira Gandhi International airport, Delhi, 1 kg from Patna and 16 kg from the Kolkata airport. All these seizures were done in the month of March.
In April, 205 kg of the same substance was found in the Kandla port and then 396 kg was recovered fromPipavav port, both in Gujarat. In the month of May, the DRI sleuths were able to seize 8 kg of heroin at Hyderabad international airport, 62 kg at IGI Airport New Delhi and 218 kg off the coast of Lakshadweep Islands.
According to official figures, since April 2021 and April 2022, DRI has seized more than 3,800 kg of heroin valued at approximately Rs 26,000 crorein the international illicit market, including the record seizure of 3,000 kg heroin at the Mundra port in September 2021, 293 kg heroin at NhavaSheva Port in July 2021, 34 kg heroin at Tughlaqabad, New Delhi, in February 2022, apart from the multiple “smaller” seizures of heroin from air passengers.
The “record” that the seizure in Mundra port broke was earlier held by the 530 kg seizure that was recovered from a truck in June 2019 that had arrived into India via the Attari border. Separately, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG), which is involved in many mid-sea operations to apprehend drug smugglers, has recovered more than 3,000 kg of narcotics, including heroin worth approximatelyRs. 6,200 crore, in different operations in the past 3 years.
While these seizures may look impressive, officials say that they paint a worrying and misleading picture.“It is safe to assume that these seizures are perhaps not even 50% of what has actually managed to get inside the borders; so that means that while we are able to stop a huge amount of heroin from reaching the end users, a significant amount of it still finds its way onto the street. In the 1990s and 2000s, the seizure would be around 20-30% of the total heroin that was sent to India; now due to new technology and improved training and manpower, it has increased. Secondly, and more importantly, these seizures indicate that the number of consumers for heroin is increasing across the country and this is something we should be more concerned of. The users of heroin are primarily the youth and those who are in their most productive years of life. Imagine the long term damage this is causing to the country,” a top official with an anti-terror agency said.
The fact that 3,000 kg of heroin (that was seized from Mundra port)was meant for India, officials say, makes it clear that there is a well-oiled machinery in place that is letting these drugs enter India or else no individual or group would have attempted to send such a huge consignment if theyhad even a slight apprehension that it would be apprehended.
According to him, the terror-related ramifications that arise from the entry of such huge amount of narcotic substance into any country is massive. “Now for the ISI or any other agency to send cash or generate cash from within India to finance its operation is difficult. The only option now is a drug transaction. Many terror modules finance their operations by facilitating entry and sellingof drugs into the country.For drugs of such quantity to enter into India, a lot of corrupt officials need to be bribed which makes them susceptible to the demands of their handlers,” the official added.