NEW DELHI, Jun 16 : With Punjab continuing to hog the drug discussion (and it should considering the number of people addicted), the rest of India doesn’t present a drastically rosy picture either.
From the year 2011 till 2015, the officials seized 105,173 tonnes of illegal drugs and only 39 percent of it is seized from Punjab.
Apart from Punjab, Manipur, Mizoram and Assam are among the top Indian states in terms of usage of drugs. While Punjab gets majority of its drug from the infamous Goldren Crescent, the North-Eastern states are plagued by Gold-en Triangle mainly constiuted of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos.
With nearly 18% of the world’s population in the 15-64 age group, India is a prime market for illicit opiates originating in both South-East Asia and South-West Asia, according to the World Drug Report 2014. In 2011, India seized roughly 13, 837 tonnes of drugs, out of which Punjab ( 7232), Mizoram (2855), Manipur (1519) and Assam (1497) were among the top states.
But in 2013, the seizing of drug went up massively with Indian officials getting hold of 76, 850 tonnes of drugs with Mizoram (33048 tonnes) and Punjab (30, 841) going neck to neck. But in 2014, Indian officials caught only 4, 859 tonnes of drugs with Mizoram (2,469) accounting for the maximum quantity. During this period officials could only seize 866 tonnes in Punjab.
In last half a decade, Mizoram topped the list of states where drugs were seized: 48,209 tonnes over the past four years, followed by Punjab with seizures of 39,064 tonnes.
With large consignments being caught, there is a variety of drugs being smuggled into India. Some of the drugs seized include amphetamine, cannabis plant, cocaine, ephedrine, ganja, hashish, heroin, ketamine, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), acetic anhydride, methy-lenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine (MDMA), methamphetamine, methaqualone (man- drax), morphine and opium.
Over the last decade the amount of addicts and cases being reported is significantly high – this of course is something which is debated.
While 21, 549 cases are reported in Punjab between 2011-14, Mizoram, the state from where maximum amount of drugs seized doesn’t even feature in top five states where maximum cases of drug trafficking are registered.
Courtesy- India Times
