DRUG TRAFFICKING IN INDIA AND POLITICIANS

The Drug trafficking is a black market at global level. It involves cultivation, manufacture, distribution, and sale of drugs which is against the law. It is subjected to drug prohibition law. Indian jurisdictions prohibit this illegal drug trade. It was started in the 1700s in China for opium smoking and spread all over the world.

There are two most important places of illegal drug trading points in Asia. They are the Golden Crescent and Golden Triangle which are nearer to India. India is the largest licit opium producer in the world for pharmaceutical trade. Because of corruption India also becomes one of the trading points in South Asia. The drug traffickingis still continuingwith the help of some corrupted armed forces and politicians.

Drug Trafficking in India

India is situated between the Golden Crescent and Golden Triangle which are major illicit opium producing centers in Asia. The Golden Crescent comprises Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran and the Golden Triangle comprises Burma, Thailand, and Laos. As India produces licit opium, out of which some of the undetermined quantity is used in international drug trafficking. The Southwest Asian countries Afghanistan and Pakistan and the Southeast countries Burma, Laos, and Thailand transport heroin.Some of the heroin is transshipped from Nepal.

The Indian heroine is commonly used in Mumbai by local people and is shipped to European countries mostly. It has been reported that heroin is transported to Nigeria from Mumbai. In India people uses both public transportation like road and rail and private transportation for thedrug trade. Mumbai is the hub of drug distribution in India.The smugglers use a large and long pipe to transfer the narcotics packets which are inserted from Pakistan side and received in India. It was found by the local police of Tarn Taran border district.

It affects the health of individuals very badly. It destroys the economic structure of the family because of a drug addicted person. Drug Trafficking increases the crime level and affects the social security which is well connected to corruption and money laundering. It increases the political instability in Northwest and Northeast India.

There are at least four million drug addicts in India recorded by Narcotic Control Bureau in 2003-2004. The Cannabis, Hashish, Opium and Heroin are most popular among Indians. These are eating the bright future of many youths all over India and thus have become a major headache for the government. In 2007, the United States Government reported that India was included in 20 major hubs for illegal drug trafficking. However, the country is tightening every possible cap to combat the situation.

Drug Policy in India

India has taken several steps to combat drug trafficking. India has several organizations to control the drug trading within the country and transportation outside the country. Some of the major ones are enlisted below;

• Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs -1961
• The Convention on Psychotropic Substances -1971
• The Protocol Amending the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs -1972
• The United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances-1988

There was a committee set up to prevent trafficking of narcotic drugs in 1986 between India and Pakistan. There was a convention signed between India and United Arab Emirates in1994. An agreement was signed between India and Egypt in 1995 to investigate the drug cases and exchange information. Iran and India signed another Memorandum of Understanding to prevent Illicit Trafficking in Drugs.

Indian Govt. introduced a major law against drugs in 1985 named Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. According to this act,it is an illegal act if a person produces or manufactures or cultivates sells, purchases, transports, stores and consumes any narcotic drug or any psychotropic substances.Under this act, an organization was set up in 1986 which is known as Narcotic Control Bureau.

NDPS includes six drugs in psychotropic substances. These are Morphine, Fentanyl, Methadone, Oxycodone, Codeine, and Hydrocodone. According to NDPS, the state drug controller first approves Recognized Medical Institutes (RMI) for stocking and dispensing without any licenses. Then the RMIs have to ensure proper documentation and submit annual consumption statistics.

Politicians and Drug Trafficking:

Without the help of politicians, the drug trafficking is quite impossible. Especially, the politicians of Border States are more responsible for this corruption. Punjab is one of the most alleged states of drug mafia and politicians involved in drug rackets. The multi-core drug trafficking is done across the India Pakistan border to Pakistan from Punjab.

Total 344 miles of border spread along the state. There are many instances of such trafficking recorded in the past and it witnessed the involvement of many key personnel. The Punjab Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia was alleged in drug trafficking racket which unbalanced the state politics. The DSP of Punjab, Mr. Jagdish Bhola was arrested in drug trafficking.

It is shameful to say that he was an Arjuna award winner.He was the mastermind of 700 crore drug racket. The SAD leader Maninder Singh Aulakh Alias Bittu and Jagjit Singh Chahal were caught with a businessman at Amritsar. The businessman had his own three factories of drugs in Himachal Pradesh. This politician leader was using the state govt. vehicles for drug smuggling.

Senior Superintendent of Police of Patiala Hardial Singh Mann revealed two important supply chains of synthetic drugs in Punjab. Jagdish Bhola confessed everything but the police have not revealed the other names involved in this crime. The Punjab DGP claimed that the state election process is continued with the help of drugs money where the size of annual narcotics trade was ₹60000/- in Punjab.Aulakh used the escort vehicle of SAD MP from Khadoor Sahib, Rattan Singh Ajnala and Amarpal Singh Boni for smuggling drugs.

Delhi Police arrested the drug lord Raja Kandola in 2012 who revealed the relation of Punjab Police and Politicians with the drug mafias. Now he is in Tihar jail. Kandola was friend with Congress leader Harman Bajwa, Bhatinda Inspector General of Police Paramraj Singh Umranangal and Mohali SP Balwinder Singh.

The Congress leaders Sukhbir Badal and Majithia were alleged for deep involvement in drug trafficking. Jagdish Bhola revealed that Majithia was the mastermind of drug trafficking in Punjab.The additional director general of police (Intelligence) Shashi Kant reported and submitted a list of various ministers and MLAs of all political parties who are involved in this dark enterprise.Under zero tolerance policy of state govt. the police arrested more than 15000 accused related to drug smuggling.

A Quantitative Overview In Punjab

A study found that 75 percent of youth in Punjab is addicted to the narcotic drug. The total supply of heroin to Punjab is only one-fifth of total heroin in India. Punjab Police seized 438 kilos of heroin, 8553 kilos of poppy husks. The police arrested 12,695 people who are accused of selling drugs in the recent year.

The secretary of the department of social security and women and child development in Chandigarh reported that there is at least one drug addictamong two third of the rural household in the state in 2014. The youth are using the drugs orally or through injections. There are 63 licensed private centers and 10 government centers for drug counseling and rehabilitation in Punjab. According to the 2009 study, the use of alcohol and drug became the part of the culture in the state.

Conclusion

Corruption and crime are the two sides of a coin. People must aware about the laws and punishment. The people should think twice how they take their own country people towards death in an exchange of money. People adopt this business because of high-profit-margin forgetting the human morality. All the attempt of Govt. to prevent the drug crime, the support of politicians provokes the businessman to take the risk. Everyone should raise their hands against this crime and remove from the country.