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Narcotics Control Bureau official say that they have seized 200 kilograms of
cocaine from a ship from Honk Kong with an estimate street value of USD 50
million. They say this is the largest recorded haul of cocaine.
The drug was brought in a container along with wooden logs that would have
to be taken to a different site for customs clearance. Drug smuggling groups
have the technology to open custom seals, remove banned substance from the
consignment, and reseal the container so officials will not know. Obviously,
these steps cannot happen without official connivance. Details on the
intended recipient are not known.
This haul comes up at a time when the son of a recently dead popular
politician was admitted to a hospital after over-dosing on banned substance.
African residents in Mumbai and Delhi are known to actively deal in drugs
and so-called celebrities are known to officially consume such substance.
Still there is very little policy-level action.
Sri Lankan Tamil refugees are known to actively engage in drug
trade in India. A
joint study by Link De-Addiction and Counseling Center and Indo-Global
Social Service Society found that peer pressure, surrogate
advertisements of cigarette and alcohol companies, and movies are
influencing high-school and pre-university youth in the 15-18 age group to
abuse tobacco, drugs, and alcohol. In an alarming new trend, 6.31% of boys
and 1.18% of girls admit to using drugs. Among the boys, 15.09% say that
they like brown sugar, heroin, etc, 37.73% smoke cannabis like ganja, and
47.18% abuse medical drugs like cough syrups, pain killers, and sleeping
tablets. Of the sample, 23.28% do drugs daily, 16.43% weekly, and 60.29%
occasionally.
India needs very strong legislation with no escape route administration that
has zero-tolerance on drug smuggling, dealing, and usage. In the US, all
properties of drug dealers and smugglers are automatically attached and
there is no legal recourse to getting any exemption. South East Asian
nations have a death penalty on drug possession. At the very least, India
should seize the carrier, sell it, and use that money to fight drug
peddling. Further, the owner of that carrier must be made liable for
bringing drugs into the country.
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