The Bureau of Narcotics Control, which traced the drug trail that emerged during investigations into the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, and arrested nearly 20 people in Mumbai, will next focus on rampant drug abuse in the capital. national, Delhi, and other metropolitan areas, a high standard. said the official from the country’s main drug control agency.
The official did not elaborate on whether the agency already has a lead. “We will also focus on Delhi,” he said, suggesting that the OCN was considering a Mumbai-style operation that would move up the value chain to the cartels supplying drugs to Mumbai.
Officials investigating the Mumbai case began with information about one person’s purchase of drugs and then expanded the investigation that has captured nearly 20 people, including actress Rhea Chakraborty, and could scorch various Bollywood leaders and politicians. as investigations progress.
Such an operation also brings an element of uncertainty for drug users who may not be detected when they make the purchase, but much later.
Delhi, according to a national survey on drug use released by the government in 2019, was among the small group of states (Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh were the others) that contributed more than half of the 77 lakh opioid users problem in the country.
This survey also revealed the magnitude of the drug problem in India. According to this survey, a senior OCN official said that 2.1% of the country’s population used opioids, three times the world average of 0.7% and four times Asia’s 0.46%.
The NCB estimates that if only 20 lakh of the 77 lakh people who use opioids are dependents who consume a minimum of 0.5 grams of heroin every day, the average daily consumption of heroin in the country reaches 1,000 kg per day. This means that there is a demand for a minimum of 360 tons of retail grade or 36 tons of (relatively pure) wholesale grade heroin per year. The international value of this quality requirement for wholesale heroin amounts to Rs 1.44 billion.
In contrast to this huge requirement, law enforcement agencies were able to seize just 2.4 tons of heroin in 2019, the year the study was published nationwide.
Officials said they were working to dismantle international supply chains used by drug traffickers and had begun sharing and receiving real-time information from drug enforcement agencies in the United States, Canada, Australia, Russia, the Kingdom. United and South Africa to jointly roll back against drug culture. And also getting some hits.
India’s geographic location complicates the effort. India is sandwiched between the Golden Crescent on the northwest border and the Golden Triangle on the northeast border.
There are indications that, in addition to Afghanistan, Pakistani drug traffickers also use parts of Pakistan close to the Afghan border to convert Afghan opium into heroin. Myanmar launches another challenge with its heroin and methamphetamine production and porous borders, the OCN official said. India’s eastern neighbor is the second largest opium producer with 33,000 hectares of cultivated land in Shan and Kachin provinces, which share a border with China.
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