IMPHAL, July 2: Drawing the attention of the concerned authority to the eer rising illicit drug trafficking in the state, the All Manipur Chemist and Druggist Association (MCDA) has urged the concerned authorities to implement pragmatic measures to control the drug menace and award punitive action against the traffickers.
A press meet was held in this connection at the MCDA office, Rupmahal Tank, wherein Dr. RK. Ratankumar, general secretary of the MCDA maintained that over the past few years there has been a major rise in unauthorized trafficking of NDPS drugs with the help of inter state passenger buses plying from Imphal to Guwahati and courier services operating in the state.
He disclosed that amidst the sharp vigil on the rising mayhem a join team of the MCDA and NAB had intercepted a huge amount of illegal drugs from an individual on board an Imphal to Guwahati bound inter state bus yesterday.
On receiving information of illegal import of drugs into the state, the join team conducted a checking of inter state buses coming from Guwahati at North AOC and recovered a huge amount of life saving drugs from an interstate bus yesterday at around 4:30 pm, he maintained.
He further informed that on being questioned about the drugs the bus driver identified the drug as sent from Guwahati for one individual identified to be from Kwakta.
The drug courier contained 28 carton boxes containing various life saving drugs without any legal documents. The same day another individual ferrying 50 cartons boxes containing drugs manages to escape from the team, he further added.
Dr. Ratankumar further alleged that illicit drugs are being sold in the state at various stores beyond the norms of drugs and cosmetic act. The state has many authorized agents of various life saving drugs and only these agents who possessed local retail license and whole sale license are liable for purchasing huge amount of the drugs from outside the state after paying proper tax to the taxation department, he maintained.
He said that the illicit drugs imported are mostly sub-standard in quality as they lack legal monitoring and evade taxes. Moreover most of the drugs are used for commercial purposes by selling it to drugs abusers creating unwanted drugs menace.
The MCDA secretary maintained that the intercepted drugs that were recovered yesterday would be sent to a lab at Kolkata for testing the standard of the drugs.
It appealed the concerned medical department, police and other law enforcing agencies to take up proper verification and checking of such illicit trafficking of drugs. At the same time, urged the NGOs and CSOs in the state to extend its co-operation.