Two days after the SIU had impounded 20736 capsules of prescription drug Spasmo Proxyvon (SP) from the Imphal Post office on August 22, a team of the Narcotic Affairs Bureau, NAB impounded another 60 thousand capsules of SP contained in two consignments from the Post office. The latter consignments had originated from Kolkata. And the previous consignments originated from New Delhi. And the senders and addressees of the consignments turned out to be ficticious. Earlier a consignment of Ephidrine tablets worth around Rs 75 lakhs with a total weight of 75 kg was seized from the cargo of Indian Airlines aircraft, IA-889 coming from the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi. Even though the police managed to seize the items, the consignee managed to flee from the scene before the arrival of the police. A similar consignment of banned drugs ‘Mod’s Acti-feel’ comprising of 15 cartoons each (each cartoon containing 7000 strips each of 10 tablets) were seized from the cargos of a Kingfisher flight and Air India flight on May 8 by state police. The consignment had also originated from the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi.
A cursory examination of these seizures reveals the active connivance of the officials of the airline cargo and post office officials at both ends. The fictitious addresses have given away the game. The consignments are not supposed to be delivered at the addresses but to be picked up by persons known to the airport and post officials. And it is only the tip of the iceberg. The consignments of Spasmo Proxyvon are for the consumption of Manipur, while Ephidrine is for the drug cartels in South East Asian nations. The SP tablet was initially introduced in the state for treatment of drug addicts during the withdrawal phase. However it became a substance of abuse among the drug addicts and it spread to the youth population. An extreme way of abuse is of smothering the SP tablets and injection by mixing it with water. This has led to loss of limbs.
On the other hand, India is a major producer of the drug called Ephedrine, which is being illegally manufactured in shabby pharmaceutical laboratories spread across the country. Smuggling of ephedrine does not come under non-bailable offence unlike smuggling of heroin, marijuana and cocaine. This is because smuggling of ephedrine has not been banned in India under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. However, it comes under the Regulation of Controlled Substances Order. Because of this technical loophole, smugglers of ephedrine come out of prison through bail and indulge in repeated acts of smuggling. Drug enforcers say that only a fraction of ephedrine smuggled from India to foreign drug cartels are actually intercepted. Ephedrine has the same stimulant effects like cocaine on the body. It is also sold as a tablet. Ephedrine is a raw material for the manufacture of amphetamine-type recreational drugs popular in South East Asian nations like Singapore, Malaysia, China, Japan, Thailand and Indonesia. One kg of ephedrine costs around Rupees one lakh in India and the price multiplies by three times when it reaches the South East Asian nations, giving a hefty profit to the smugglers. The smugglers share this profit with the police and the authorities. Ephedrine is also used to prepare asthma medicines. Some time back the drug was freely available across the counter in pharmaceutical shops. Ephedrine had gained notoriety among drug enforcers after it became widely abused as a precursor chemical to make amphetamine-type stimulants (synthetic drugs such as the well-known Ecstasy, Speed, Base, Ice, and Methamphetamine) in illegal and clandestine backyard laboratories run by international drug cartels. India ‘exports’ ephedrine to several countries including America and Australia. There have been seizures in these countries. The ephedrine consignments which come to Imphal find its way to illegal drug laboratories in South East Asia including Myanmar. But it will not be long before,
the ephedrine tablet becomes popular in the state. So, state law enforcement agencies should tie up with central agencies and the police of other states to stop
this menace.