Corruption, porous borders, misplaced priorities stymied India’s fight against illicit narcotic drugs

@prashanthamine

Mumbai: India is one of the largest manufacturers and exporters of pharmaceuticals in the world. Hence, it has an ethical obligation to contribute to the medical supply of narcotic drugs in the world. Tragically corruption, porous borders and misplaced priorities have stymied India’s fight against illicit narcotic drugs trade.

In her 2019 research paper Dr Pushpita Das, Research Fellow at Manohar Parrikar – Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis (MP-IDSA), argues that India’s proximity to two of the world’s largest producers of opium and synthetic drugs and its large pharmaceutical base, has made the country not only a conduit but also a source for drug trafficking.

Opium cultivation in India is heavily regulated, whatever is illegally grown is promptly destroyed. The Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN) issues licences to farmers to cultivate Opium/Poppy in specified tracks of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Manufacturing of synthetic drugs, their salts and preparations are controlled by the Narcotics Commissioner.

The Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB) does satellite surveys to find out illicit opium/poppy cultivation. The CEIB shares data with the CBN and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).

Opium gum is the source of Alkaloids and also drug abuse. Morphine is found in the upper stem of Poppy pod. However, poppy seeds are not narcotic and are used in cooking as condiment in India. Bhang is derived from the Cannabis plant, while the Cannabis seeds are used to extract Cannabis oil.

Morphine is a derivative of opium and is known to be the best analgesic and can relieve extremely excruciating pain of terminally ill cancer patients or a victim of a gunshot wound. Besides Morphine, Codeine and Thebaine are the other two natural narcotics.

Government Opium and Alkaloids Works (GOAW) regulates exports and supply of opium. Dry opium is exported, some of it is given to Ayurvedic pharmaceutical companies and some for extraction of Alkaloids. The GOAW also manufactures Alkaloids like – Morphine, Codeine, Thebaine, Noscapine, Papaverine, Hydrocodone, Oxycodone, Pholcodine and sells them to pharmaceutical companies.

Licit pharmaceutical preparations containing drugs like Codeine, Buprenorphine, Diazepam and Alprazolam are often abused. The licit Precursors are chemicals which are used in manufacturing of medicines. Since India is the largest producer of pharmaceuticals, it is also target of traffickers who illegally divert these Precursors into production of illicit narcotic and synthetic drugs.

Anashwara Ashok, Research Assistant, Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS) in her research paper published on June 25, 2019 argues that Indian security forces not only have to ensure national security from external aggression are also engaged in preventing various types of non-conventional threats emerging from poor governance like terrorism and drug trafficking.

Criminal gangs operating in the border areas study the movement of security forces. Besides this, the gangs are bound by strong ethnic unity, strong sense of regionalism and tribal loyalties, many sympathisers of these criminal gangs provide them with intel about security deployment in the area.

Also Read: Illicit drug trafficking between Golden Crescent and Golden Triangle a challenge to India’s national security

In Naxal infested areas, due to lack of infrastructure development, the Naxals exploit the farmers who illicitly grow opium and cannabis providing them with ready money. Largest seizures of drugs like opium, heroin and cannabis have occurred in Red Corridor areas like Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar.

Hashish and Marijuana or Ganja are the two derivatives of Cannabis which are extensively trafficked in India and world over. Nepal remains as a major source of Hashish in India. Raxual in Bihar and, Rupaidiha and Nautanwa in Uttar Pradesh have become major routes through which Hashish is trafficked into India.

It goes without saying that the money generated by the illegal sale of narcotic drugs is used to finance terrorist activities. The Kashmiri, Khalistani and Northeast militants have used drug money to finance and sustain their struggle against the Indian state. Bigger organisations like the Naga nationalist separatist, The National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) though not believed to be involved in drug trade, do collect protection money from drug peddlers in exchange for safe passage of drug consignments through their territory.

What needs to be understood here is that consumption of drugs and narcotics destroys social mores and produces dysfunctional behaviour in the society thereby creating law and order problems in the country. More the drug prevalence it causes huge economic drain through loss of production and diversion of resources into caring and rehabilitation of drug addicts. Drug trafficking also has its impact on the political process as drug cartels subvert, penetrate and further corrupt state institutions to control the illegal drug trade.

In the early 1980’s drug traffickers began rerouting heroin from the Golden Crescent through India instead of the Balkan route which was closed due to the Iran-Iraq war. As the war ended in August 1988, it saw a decline in heroin trafficking through India. Heroin trafficked between Golden Crescent and Golden Triangle through India is of low-grade heroin and is called as Brown Sugar and is trafficked not only in India, but to neighbouring countries like Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Drug trafficking into India is through the India-Pakistan and India-Myanmar borders. In North-Eastern states, 90% of the heroin is trafficked through four routes that enter into Manipur. The four entry points in Manipur are at – Moreh, Behiang, New Somthal and Kamjong from Myanmar. Heroin is also trafficked through Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.

The pre-existing smuggling network of the Khalistani and Kashmiri militants and the ideal terrain for hiding narcotic drug consignments have made India-Pakistan border being used to push illicit heroin into India. The two trains that ply between India and Pakistan – the Samjhuata Express and the Thar Express have been exploited for heroin trafficking.

Heroin trafficking along the India-Pakistan border is carried out by drug cartels like the D-Company, the Nigerian, the Afghan and Kenyan syndicates who work in conjunction with each other. It is mostly the Afghan couriers who smuggle heroin into India. Often passengers travelling by the Samjhuata Express and the Thar Express are induced to act as couriers in trafficking heroin in India.

Once the consignment reaches Amritsar, Jaipur or New Delhi, it is handed over to the Nigerian or Kenyan syndicates, who then traffic it out by air route to international markets like the USA, Canada and Europe. Recent investigations have revealed that drug traffickers are increasingly using the Darknet and Bitcoin for buying and selling drugs and narcotics, argues Dr Pushpita Das.

Also Read: Consumption, production and trade of illicit drugs have a wide variety of adverse socio-economic and political effects

The demand for Marijuana or Ganja in India is met through local production in states like Odisha, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Nagaland. Dr Pushpita Das argues that it is believed that the Maoists have started illegal cultivation of Cannabis in large tracts in Odisha and Chhattisgarh as a source of funding for their movement.

Trafficking in Marijuana grown in North-eastern states is done through Myanmar and Bangladesh through poorly guarded international borders. In the rest of India, trafficking of Marijuana takes place through Indo-Nepal border to Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.

Cocaine is trafficked into India by African drug cartels. These drug cartels use first timers, terminally ill cancer patients coming to India for medical treatment. Cocaine is trafficked into India mainly through primary and secondary airports.

Since late 1990’s India has seen significant rise in use of psychotropic substances and medical preparations containing Codeine. Synthetic drugs like Amphetamine Type Stimulants (ATS) and Methamphetamine produced in South-East Asia especially in the Golden Triangle trafficked into India through the porous India-Myanmar international border.

Methamphetamine tablets have been seized by anti-narcotics agencies in Imphal and Guwahati. Pharmaceutical preparations containing Dextropropoxyphene and Codeine are trafficked to neighbouring countries especially to Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar. Phensedyl, a Codeine based cough-syrup is smuggled into Bangladesh.

Truckloads of consignments of Phensedyl bottles from the factories are diverted to the North-east and West Bengal by distributors and stockists. Furthermore, empty Phensedyl bottles are refilled with higher narcotic content and repackaged as ‘Phensedyl Plus’ into Bangladesh through the Kailashar (Tripura) and Cachar-Karimganj (Assam) borders, says Dr Pushpita Das.

India is a major source of Ephedrine and Pseudo-ephedrine used in manufacturing of ATS and Acetic Anhydride used for manufacturing of Heroin. These two chemicals are being increasingly smuggled across the India-Myanmar border.

According to Dr Pushpita Das, prevention of drug trafficking is no more a priority issue for the government. Corruption in various concerned agencies has been one of the most difficult hurdles in prevention of drug trafficking.

Drug trafficking generates enormous profits and the lure of money has always been too difficult to resist. It has been alleged that officials not only take bribes from traffickers to look the other way when a drug consignment is trafficked, but some of them are also actively involved in drug trafficking, argues Dr Pushpita Das.

As per the March 2019 NCB report, there were 62 incidents of drug seizures reported in India. Most of these seizures were reported from cities like Mumbai, Patna, Jammu, Manipur, Ahmedabad, Jodhpur, Chandigarh, Delhi, Kolkata and Lucknow.

Agency-wise seizures done in 2019 are as follows – NCB 96, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) 6, Customs and Central Excise 1, Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN) 4, State Police 2,424 and Excise 119. Contraband drugs seized by State Police include – Opium 3,538, Ganja 20,200, Hashish 286 and Acetic Anhydride 197, kilogram equivalent, grams or in tablet form.

Out of the total 32,559 people arrested in 2015-19 for drug trafficking and in possession of illicit drugs, 221 were foreigners. Besides the 111 Indians, the foreigners arrested in 2019 included from countries like Brazil 2, Nepal 11, Maldives 1 and 9 Iranian’s.

In so far as taking action against clandestine laboratories engaged in refining illicit drugs or producing synthetic drugs, between 2015 to 2019, action was taken in shutting down 19 such illegal laboratories in India. Most action was witnessed in 2016 when five laboratories were shut down.

These laboratories were illegally producing illicit drugs like Heroin, Ketamine, Mephedrone, Heroin (Opium), Ephedrine, Alprazolam, Morphine, Amphetamine (non-specified) and Methamphetamine (non-specified).

In the end an axiom is worth sentencing here – “After all, an ounce of precaution is worth a pound of cure”.