Friday, 17 May, 2024
By: Yash Gupte
The DRI is India's top anti-smuggling agency, functioning under the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs in the Ministry of Finance, Government of India. Image Source: IANS
On December 21, 2022, DRI launched an investigation and discovered the two covert labs based on particular intelligence. Seven people who were making the product were detained and placed in judicial detention.
The Directorate of Intelligence Revenue (DRI) detained seven people, including the "mastermind," and recovered around 25 kg of the stimulant narcotic mephedrone from two covert manufacturing facilities in Hyderabad, according to a statement released by the Union Finance Ministry on Monday. On December 21, 2022, DRI launched an investigation and discovered the two covert labs based on particular intelligence. Seven people who were making the product were detained and placed in judicial detention.
According to the ministry, "officials from the DRI recovered 24.885 kg of mephedrone in final shape, valued at Rs 49.77 crore on the black market, along with in-process materials, sale profits of Rs 18.90 lakh, critical raw materials, machinery, and cars used for trafficking." The mastermind and the financer were caught at Nepal as they were trying to flee to Nepal with a cash of Rs 60 lakh.
It is important to note that some of the individuals detained are also charged in a 2016 DRI case for the alleged illegal manufacture of 236 kg of ephedrine in Indore, a July 2022 DRI case for the alleged illicit manufacture of 667 kg of mephedrone in Yamuna Nagar, a case of prisoner escape in Indore, a murder case in Hyderabad, and robberies in Vadodara. The drug cartel's plans to engage in nefarious operations after the New Year and going forward have been severely hampered by the destruction of the covert labs and the capture of the whole organisation.
The DRI is India's top anti-smuggling agency, functioning under the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs in the Ministry of Finance, Government of India. It is entrusted with discovering and countering contraband smuggling, such as drug trafficking and illegal international commerce in wildlife and environmentally sensitive commodities, as well as combating commercial frauds relating to foreign trade and evasion of customs duty.
In recent years, there has been an exponential rise in the drug seizures in India. The reason behind this can be attributed to the rise in smuggling activities. The chart below shows the number of cases registered in last five years under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic substances (NDPS) act and the drugs in possession for trafficking.
Source: National Crime Records Bureau
The number of cases under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) act has been rapidly increasing over the years. In the year 2017, 63,800 cases were registered under the act which increased to 72, 721 in 2019. 2020 was the only year which witnessed a dip in cases due to the covid-19 pandemic. 59,806 cases were registered in 2020 but in the next year, the number of cases under the NDPS act jumped to 78,331. The Narcotic Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act) of 1985 was enacted to combat drug misuse by prohibiting the use, distribution, manufacturing, and trade of drugs. The instances of possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking were reported at 22,744 in 2017. This number increased by around ten thousand to 32,302 in the year 2021.
In this financial year alone (till November, 2022), officers of the anti-smuggling agency have seized about 990 kg of Heroin, 88 kg of Cocaine, 10,000 Methamphetamine tablets, 2,400 liters of Phensedyl cough syrup and various other harmful NDPS substances.
The lowest numbers of cases were registered in 2018. This tells that the covid-19 pandemic didn’t affect the possession of drugs for trafficking in a serious manner. The rising number of cases under the NDPS act and the cases of drugs trafficking is a major concern for the nation. The most prone category of people to the drugs is ‘youth’ as they are an easy target for the peddlers. Though various government agencies are working effectively to counter the drugs smuggling and trafficking, more needs to be done in this regard.
