Drug trafficking a challenge to India's Security

Introduction:

Drug trafficking is a global illicit trade involving the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. United Nation Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is continuously monitoring and researching global illicit drug markets in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of their dynamics. Drug trafficking is a key part of this research. Further information can be found in the yearly World Drug Report.At current levels, world heroin consumption (340 tons) and seizures represent an annual flow of 430-450 tons of heroin into the global heroin market.Of that total, opium from Myanmar and the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos) yields some 50 tons, while the rest, some 380 tons of heroin and morphine, is produced exclusively from Afghan opium. While approximately 5 tons are consumed and seized in Afghanistan, the remaining bulk of 375 tons is trafficked worldwide via routes flowing into and through the countries neighboring Afghanistan.

The Balkan and northern routes are the main heroin trafficking corridors linking Afghanistan to the huge markets of the Russian Federation and Western Europe. The Balkan route traverses the Islamic Republic of Iran (often via Pakistan), Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria across South-East Europe to the Western European market, with an annual market value of some $20 billion. The northern route runs mainly through Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan (or Uzbekistan or Turkmenistan) to Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation. The size of that market is estimated to total $13 billion per year.

India has been enduring the menace of drug trafficking for four decades. Although India has been a traditional consumer of opium and cannabis derivatives, the trends and patterns of drug trafficking demonstrate that there is a gradual shift from traditional/natural drugs towards synthetic drugs that are being trafficked and consumed in the country. In the 1980s, a large quantity of heroin and hashish was smuggled into the country through various borders. While these narcotics are still trafficked, albeit, in lesser quantities, the share of synthetic drugs has gone up tremendously. Various studies and media reports indicate that drug consumption and trafficking in the country are, in fact, showing an increasing trend.

Trend in drug and narcotics trafficking:

Being closer to the Golden Crescent and Golden Triangle, India has been vulnerable to the trafficking of narcotics and drugs such as heroin, hashish, and synthetic drugs produced in these areas. Heroin was first trafficked into India in the mid-seventies from the Golden Triangle, which picked up by eighties. However, the quantity of the trafficked heroin through the India-Myanmar border into the Northeast has always been very small as it is meant for local consumption only. The Golden Crescent, on the other hand, has remained the primary source of trafficked heroin in the country since the early eighties when traffickers started rerouting heroin from this region through India following the Iran-Iraq war. Although the end of the war and reopening of the Balkan trafficking route in the late eighties resulted in a dip in heroin trafficking in the country, the trend did not sustain. After a gap of almost two decades, it again picked up in 2012. Increased production of opium in Afghanistan, greater domestic demand in India, and connivance of state government officials and border guarding forces together contributed towards this increase in heroin trafficking, especially in the Punjab sector.

Besides heroin, hashish and marijuana are the two derivatives of Cannabis which are extensively trafficked in India. Hashish and marijuana have been traditionally trafficked into India from Nepal and therefore, Nepal remains a major source even though its share has been decreasing over the past few years. In addition, the Golden Crescent has also been a major source of hashish in India. Incidentally, a lot of these narcotics that are trafficked into India not consumed domestically but transit the country for destinations such as Europe, Canada and the United States of America. Lately, trafficking of cocaine into India has been observed. This is a result of diversification of cocaine markets globally. Cocaine produced in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia travels to India through West Asia and Gulf Countries.

Apart from narcotics, India has been experiencing a significant rise in the use of psychotropic substances and medicinal preparations among addicts since late 1990. Stringent narcotics and drugs laws, rising price of heroin and easy availability of synthetic drugs have propelled this shift in the consumption pattern and hence their trafficking. Amphetamine Type Stimulant (ATS) and Methamphetamine produced in large quantities in South-east Asia especially in the Golden Triangle are trafficked into India through the porous India-Myanmar border. India also manufactures a lot of synthetic drugs and precursor chemicals which are smuggled out of the country. Pharmaceutical preparations containing Dextropropoxyphene and Codeine are trafficked to the neighbouring countries especially to Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. Ketamine is yet another medicinal preparation which is smuggled out of India to various South-east Asian countries. Similarly, Ephedrine and Pseudoephedrine used for manufacturing ATS and Acetic Anhydride used for the manufacturing of heroin are smuggled into the Golden Crescent and Golden Triangle from India.

Recently, Madras High Court asked the Centre to spell out whether India is being used as a hub by international drug cartels.

• It Observes that Punjab is serving as the transit point for the smuggling of narcotic drugs which make their way as far as Kerala.
• It also inquired if the money involved was being used to fund terrorists and anti-national activities.

Observations by the Madras Highcourt:

• It said that “We have a bad experience in the State of Punjab where youngsters and students are mostly addicted to drugs and the same situation should not be allowed to spread to other States. It is known that Punjab is the transit point on the drug route and the State has become a major consumer base.”
• A recent survey by the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in association with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), which revealed that 3.1 crore Indians use cannabis, bhang, ganja, charas, heroin and opium. It also expressed the concern that only one in 20 drug addicts get treatment at a hospital.

India & Drug Abuse:

• According to a report by the United Nation Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), India is one of the major hubs of illicit drug trade ranging from age-old cannabis to newer prescription drugs like tramadol, and designer drugs like methamphetamine.
• The money from the drug trade is used to finance terrorism, human trafficking, illegal businesses etc. It has aggravated the crime scenario in India.
• India lies in the middle of two major illicit opium production regions in the world, the Golden Crescent in the west and the Golden Triangle in the east which makes it a viable hub of the illicit drug trade.
• Golden Triangle- It includes the regions of Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand and is Southeast Asia’s main opium-producing region and one of the oldest narcotics supply routes to Europe and North America.
• Golden Crescent- It includes Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan and is a principal global site for opium production and distribution.

National Survey on Extent and Pattern of Substance Use in India:

• It was conducted by the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre (NDDTC) of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi and was sponsored by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
• The survey was conducted on pan India basis and citizens between the ages of 10 to 75 were questioned regarding substance abuse. It mentioned that 5.7 crore people in the country suffered from alcohol-related problems.
• The categories that were studied are alcohol, cannabis (bhang and ganja/charas), opioids (opium, heroin and pharmaceutical opioids), cocaine, amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS), sedatives, inhalants and hallucinogens.

MAJOR CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COUNTRY RELEVANT TO THE DRUG AND CRIME PROBLEM:

India contains 17% of the world’s people, yet it accounts for only 2% of its GDP and 1% of its trade. Poverty remains pervasive – India is still home to 260-290 million poor. Per capita income growth has been slow and there is a great unevenness in the distribution of income. These conditions, together with the geographic location of India between the world’s two largest producers of illicit opium, and the breakdown of traditional social capital resulting, in part, from large-scale rural-to-urban migration and its attendant modernization influences, have all contributed to the rise in drug abuse in recent years. Nonetheless, the fact that most (70%) Indians still live in the countryside adds to the importance of recent findings about the extent of substance abuse (including injecting drug use) in the rural areas. The process of industrialisation has itself contributed new and cheaper pharmaceutical drugs widely abused by the poor and unemployed. At the same time, recent rapid economic growth (in the region of 8%) has created pockets of affluence which propel a market for the sorts of “designer drugs” more commonly consumed in western countries. The fact that India is the world’s largest producer of licit opium gum opium has, despite strict controls, meant that some portion of this product is liable to diversion by unscrupulous farmers adding to the availability of drugs on the market.

Threat to National Security:

This two-way illegal movement of narcotics and drugs pose a significant threat to the national security. For one, the breach of the international borders of the country by drug traffickers implies that the same routes could be used for smuggling in weapons as well as terrorists into the country. In fact, it has been established that the arms and explosives used in the 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai were transported by the Dawood Ibrahim gang through the traditional trafficking routes. Investigations into the Pathankot attack that took place on 31st December 2015 also hinted that the terrorists entered into India from Pakistan through the routes tried and tested by drug traffickers.

The nexus between drug traffickers, criminal networks and terrorists are another potent threat. Exploitation of the trafficking routes by terrorists with the help of well-entrenched criminal networks to infiltrate with arms and explosives adds a critical dimension to the security of the borders. It has been proven that the D Company had facilitated activities of Islamist terror groups in India by supporting their cross-border movement and providing them with funds and shelter in the country. Composite seizures of drugs and arms by security forces at the borders points to a close nexus between drug traffickers and anti-national elements.

Further, the money generated by the illegal sale of narcotics and drugs is used for financing terrorist activities. In India, the Kashmiri, Sikh and Northeast militants have used drug money to finance their ‘struggle’ against the Indian state. It is estimated that 15 per cent of the finances of the J&K militants were generated through the sale of drugs. In the Northeast, while the smaller insurgent organisations are directly involved in drug trafficking to generate quick funds, the bigger insurgent organisations collect protection money from the drug peddlers in lieu of safe passage of drug consignments through their territory. Last but not least, large-scale availability of narcotics and drugs encourages demand for narcotics and drugs by domestic population. Consumption of which produces dysfunctional behaviour thereby creating law and order problem in the society. It also causes a huge economic drain on the country through loss of production and diversion of resources for caring and rehabilitation of the drug addicts, etc. Drug trafficking also has a direct bearing on the political process as drug cartels subvert, penetrate and further corrupt state institutions to control the illegal drug trade.

Response:

Given these challenges, India has adopted a comprehensive approach to reducing supply as well as demand for narcotics and drugs. The approach comprises four elements – a) enacting legislation such as the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS); b) ensuring physical security of the borders and coasts by strengthening patrolling and surveillance; c) eliciting cooperation from neighbours by entering into several bilateral and multilateral agreements on prevention of illicit traffic of drugs and chemicals, and; d) co-operating with voluntary organisations in the endeavour to prevent abuse of narcotics and synthetic drugs.

Conclusion:

Despite these measures, prevention of drug trafficking in India has achieved only partial success. Low priority accorded to the prevention of drug trafficking is one of the main reasons why concerned organisation do not display required urgency in apprehending drug peddlers and subsequent investigation. Turf wars between various agencies, corruption, intelligence failure, lack of manpower and infrastructure, poor drug detection training, and procedural delays are other factors that hamper the effectiveness of the country’s drug prevention efforts. Since drug trafficking has serious ramifications on the country’s security, it is time India pays much more attention to the problem and formulates robust measures to overcome the loopholes in its strategy for prevention of drug trafficking.

Drug Nexus in Bollywood: A new trend

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) questioned actors Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan and Padukone’s manager Karishma Prakash for over five hours on 26, September as part of its investigations into a purported “drug nexus” in Bollywood. The agency also made its 20th arrest in its investigation into the alleged supply and consumption of drugs in the Hindi film industry, taking former Dharmatic Entertainment executive producer Kshitij Prasad into its custody on Saturday. Senior NCB officials claimed that Prasad, an Executive Producer at Dharmatic Entertainment – a sister concern of Dharma Productions, a production house owned by Karan Johar – was in touch with major drug peddlers in Mumbai. “Some of these peddlers have already been arrested while the others are yet to be caught”. Prasad has told reporters that he used to procure drugs for his own consumption. We are investigating whether he also used to supply those drugs to others,” said an official. Mutha Ashok Jain, Deputy Director General, South West Region, NCB, said that Prasad will be produced in court on Sunday. Prasad was arrested in FIR 16/2020 of the NCB’s Mumbai Zonal Unit. Earlier this month, the agency had informed the court that it had decided to file a second FIR “to uproot the drug citadel in Mumbai, especially in Bollywood”. The agency had previously arrested actress Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik and 17 others under this FIR and seized small quantities of hashish, LSD dots and marijuana.

However, the NCB is yet to make a single arrest or recover narcotic substances in FIR 15/2020, which its Delhi Zonal Unit filed against six people Chakraborty on the basis of Whatsapp chats purportedly discussing drugs provided to it by the Enforcement Directorate. On 26, September, Jain said that the three actresses were questioned in connection with both FIRs. “Statements of four people were recorded today. I cannot comment on what they said. Their statements will be submitted to the court,” he said. Jain said that the agency will now review the arrests and seizures it has made before deciding who to question next. “The actresses have denied taking drugs. We may serve them a summons for further questioning if we find new evidence. Their questioning is over for now,” said an NCB official. Padukone and Prakash, an employee of KWAN talent management agency, were questioned at Evelyn House, a VVIP Guest House owned by the Mumbai Port Trust in Colaba while Kapoor and Khan were questioned at the NCB’s office in Ballard Pier. All four women were questioned for close to five hours.

Bollywood drug nexus raised in Parliament

The alleged nexus between Bollywood and drug cartel was flagged in Parliament on the first day of the monsoon session on Monday with actor-politician Ravi Kishan alleging that “drug addiction is there in film industry too".

The BJP MP had praised the NCB for its ongoing probe into the drugs angle linked to Rajput’s death case, in which Chakraborty, her brother Showik and four more have been arrested.

“Drug addiction is in film industry too. Several people have been apprehended, NCB is doing very good work. I urge the Central government to take strict action, apprehend the culprits soon, give them befitting punishment and bring an end to conspiracy of neighbouring countries,” he had said.

Jaya Bachchan defends film industry

Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan on Tuesday came down heavily upon Kishan over his Bollywood drug nexus allegation in Parliament and said the image of the entire fraternity can't be tarnished because of some people.

"People in the entertainment industry are being flogged by social media. People who made their names in the industry have called it a gutter. I completely disagree and I really disassociate. I hope that the government tells such people not to use this kind of language," Bachchan said in Rajya Sabha.

Taking a swipe at the BJP MP, Bachchan said that people who themselves belong to the film industry are making such statements against it.

"Just because there are some people, you can't tarnish the image of the entire industry. I am really embarrassed and ashamed that yesterday one of our members in Lok Sabha, who is from the film industry, spoke against it. It is a sham," she said, in a reference to the Bhojpuri actor's statement in Lok Sabha on the alleged Bollywood drug cartel.

Measuring the strength:

Pre Q: Golden crescent includes

(a) Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan
(b) India, Afghanistan and Pakistan
(c) India, Pakistan and Iran
(d) None of the above

Mains Q: In the light of Madras High Court’s judgement, analyse the nexus between drug abuse and terrorism.