Friday, 17 May, 2024
By: Yash Gupte
The ICG personnel searched extensively while conducting an investigation since the crew was acting suspiciously, and they discovered about 61 kg of drugs worth Rs 425 crore. Image Source: IANS
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.
On Monday night, a joint operation by the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and Gujarat's Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) culminated in the capture of an Iranian boat with five crew members and 61 kilos of heroin worth 425 crore. ICG stated that it sent out its two Fast Patrol Class ships, ICGS Meera Behn and ICGS Abheek, for patrolling in the Arabian Sea in response to a specific information input from ATS. “During dark hours, a boat was observed moving suspiciously in Indian waters approx. 340 Kms (190 miles) off Okha coast. On being challenged by ICG Ships, the boat started evasive manoeuvring. The boat was then chased and forced to stop by ICG ships,” ICG said in a statement.
After being intercepted, it was discovered that the boat was Iranian and that it was carrying five Iranian crew members. The ICG personnel searched extensively while conducting an investigation since the crew was acting suspiciously, and they discovered about 61 kg of drugs worth Rs 425 crore. The crew of the boat has been taken into custody and is being transported to Okha for additional investigation. The statement further said that during the past 18 months, the ICG, working with the ATS, had stopped eight foreign vessels and seized 407 kg of drugs worth Rs 2,355 crore from the Gujarat coast.
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.
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.
