As one enters the capital through a rail route, slum clusters can easily be spotted with people wading through filth, some shouting, and children playing barefoot.
Already reeling under poverty, the areas face another dark reality that adds to their miseries the “consumption of drugs”. It is not just the youth or older ones, but even the minors abuse illicit substances and begin their journey on the wrong foot.
Nearly all street crime offenders caught by Delhi Police have a history of substance use.
Remember the “dance of death” done by a minor boy in northeast Delhi’s Welcome area in November last year, wherein an 18-year-old man was first strangled to death by a minor boy and then stabbed more than five dozen times on a street.
The merciless stabbing around the neck, throat and face for about three minutes all caught on a CCTV camera was not all that defined the brutality of the crime the juvenile even danced on the street, as the body of the victim man was lying just next to his feet, soaked in blood.
The motive of the brutal murder was not any kind of personal animosity but, surprisingly, a robbery for a petty amount of just Rs 350. Do you know what turned the minor into a monster? He was under the influence of drugs while committing the crime.
Almost every Delhi Police statement includes the sentence, “The accused is addicted to drugs. Hence, he committed the crime to earn easy money and satisfy his urge for drugs.” This indicates that drug consumption inevitably leads to a bitter end for many individuals.
It is important to note that the rampant use of drugs is not confined to the poor or those living in the JJ clusters of the city; it is also prevalent among the more affluent sections of society.
Youngsters flock to parties and late-night clubs in the city to enjoy themselves. While some dance and socialize with friends, a small number of youths are inclined to consume drugs.
Earlier in February, a significant operation spanning two days led to the uncovering of 900 kilograms of the prohibited substance Mephedrone (MD), with an estimated value exceeding Rs 3,000 crore. This was the result of joint raids conducted by the Pune and Delhi Police.
The contraband, known as Meow Meow (scientifically termed Mephedrone), is a potent synthetic stimulant often associated with party culture due to its euphoric effects. Its consumption poses significant health risks and can lead to addiction and adverse mental health outcomes. This issue is not limited to Delhi; every metropolitan area faces the same danger.
Recently, in a major success against the drug menace in the city, the Delhi Police busted a significant drug cartel this month. Within just seven days, they seized cocaine valued at more than Rs 7,000 crore in the international market, marking Delhi’s biggest drug haul in recent times.
The prime accused in the cartel is believed to be a Dubai-based businessman named Virendra Basoya, who is suspected of running the racket with the help of two accomplices, Tushar Goyal and Jitender Gill alias Jassi, both of whom have been arrested. Several arrests have been made in recent days as police uncover the narco-cartel layer by layer and trace the sources of these drugs that are poisoning the people of the city.
Source of drugs
Top officers of the Delhi Police told this newspaper that India’s drug trafficking problems have been exacerbated by its proximity to two notorious narcotics zones, the Golden Triangle and the Golden Crescent.
The Golden Triangle refers to the area where the borders of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet at the confluence of the Ruak and Mekong rivers while the Golden Crescent, on the other hand, is a major global opium production region which spans across Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan, from where drugs are smuggled into the country through Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat.
India’s geographical position is such that it is sandwiched between the Golden Crescent and the Golden Triangle.
Myanmar is the world’s second-largest illicit supplier of morphine and heroin, producing 80 per cent of the world’s heroin, which is then smuggled into the US, the UK, and China via sea routes in Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and India.
As per sources, Guwahati and Dimapur have seen a significant amount of heroin seizures that originated from the Golden Triangle. Myanmar’s heroin and meth are smuggled into India at two entry points, Moreh in Manipur, and Champai in Mizoram.
“Heroin comes from Afghanistan and the Golden Triangle. Charas comes from Nepal, Himachal, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir all hilly states. Cocaine comes from Latin America through human carriers by air route mainly. Then, there are synthetic drugs that are mainly coming through human carriers and couriers. So a variety of drugs are available in Delhi through these many channels,” a senior Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officer told this newspaper.
Interestingly, precursor chemicals such as ephedrine, acetic anhydride, and pseudoephedrine are sourced from locations in South India, including Chennai, and then transported to Kolkata and Guwahati via Delhi before being smuggled across the border to Myanmar, due to domestic security gaps.
From land, air, sea: Drugs infiltration According to the officers, the drugs supplied to the Delhi-NCR are not just for consumption but the city even acts as a major transit point for smuggling across north India.
The drug syndicates these days use couriers, parcels, and postal services to smuggle drugs and even deliver them. The increased use of couriers or postal services is directly linked to increased dark web activity in India.
“The quantity of drugs in parcels is usually limited to a few grams to avoid suspicion and interception by the law enforcement agencies,” a senior Delhi Police officer said.
Recently, the cops nabbed three people for procuring ganja from Odisha and smuggling it into the capital. They were three people a 45-year-old woman, a man in his twenties, and a teen girl, along with a few trolley bags a perfect camouflage of a happy-go family on a vacation.
But there was a twist in the story in reality, the trio was engaged in smuggling drugs from Odisha and selling them in the national capital. Their clever modus operandi, through which they easily evaded cops’ eyes, would have continued had the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police not received a crucial tip-off about some recent sale and supply of ganja in the city following which they caught them red-handed from a railway station in the city.
Another cartel discreetly smuggled “organic ganja” into Delhi all the way from Thailand. First, it reached Manipur through the international border, then the consignment was transported to Dimapur in Nagaland via road and then ultimately it reached the national capital by train.
What was more surprising was that the accused people used social media websites to contact their associates and take orders from their clients. Ultimately, the contraband was supplied taking the help of delivery services like Porter and Wefast.
In reference to the latest drug bust, through the interrogation of the accused people, it was revealed that the seized marijuana had originated from Phuket in Thailand while the rest of it had been smuggled from South America and some Middle East countries.
Even as law enforcement agencies have intensified their efforts to curb drug trafficking in the region, the drug trade continues to thrive, with traffickers adapting to law enforcement efforts and finding new ways to smuggle drugs.
Modus operandi
Remember the 80’s Bollywood classic where the smugglers used to exchange the contraband by first joining a half-torn Indian currency note?
By matching the digits on the note, the smugglers would know that they are receiving or giving consignment to the right person. The recent Rs 7,000 crore cocaine cartel was doing exactly the same! Whenever the two smugglers exchanging drugs were unknown to each other, they would bring half-torn currency notes and match them.
However, that was not enough, the cartel was using code words while distributing the contraband in the capital to local drug peddlers. Through this, they were always sure that they were not being tracked by any law enforcement agency and delivering the cocaine to the right people.
Sources say their communication method was even efficient to evade the law of the land. “The cartel used encrypted paid apps for communication and made payments for drug consignments using cryptocurrencies,” official sources said.
City’s hotspots
After the major drug haul, the cops have begun targeting the local drug traffickers who play the most important role in supplying drugs to the youngsters of the city and are connected with interstate and international drug cartels.
Drug abuse is more prevalent in Delhi-NCR compared to the national aver-age and to tackle the menace, the Delhi Police is leaving no stone unturned to put a final plug to the problem.
But what are the places where this menace is rampant? The cops say they regularly activate their sources to find some dark spots which warrant immediate action.
Last year, the police identified 64 areas in the capital where drug peddling activities were prevalent.
Officers say these places had been identified through on-ground information, trends in contraband seizures, and the arrest of individuals involved in drug supply and sale.
As per an officer, there are some locations, such as Paharganj, whichhave dropped off in the new list. But the concerning aspect is that there are 52 new areas that have emerged as hotbeds of peddling activities, joining the existing 12 places on the updated list.
“One of the newly identified hot spots is the north campus of Delhi University, where drugs are supplied by peddlers with connections in other states, including Meghalaya,” the officer said, adding the majority of buyers in this area are people residing near the campus, with heroin and cannabis being the most sought after drugs.
A senior NCB official said that synthetic drugs, including MDMA, are now becoming more prevalent in the Delhi-NCR area. “Earlier these drugs were not found in Delhi but unfortunately these are now being introduced among the drug users by the criminals,” the official said.
He further said that some areas in Delhi and nearby satellite towns are becoming hotspots of both narcotic consumption as well as smuggling. “Dwarka and Greater Noida have become major hotspots of foreigners who are into consumption and supply of contraband,” he said.
Meanwhile, senior officers say that the police are now beginning action against those drug traffickers under the stringent PIT-NDPS Act 1988 and initiating a financial investigation to unearth the proceeds of crime.
The Act provides for the preventive detention of repeat offenders, which is seen as an effective method in dealing with drug menace. Once a preventive detention order is issued against a suspect under the said act, his/her properties, potentially acquired through illicit funds, are liable for forfeiture.
Awareness need of hour
Tackling the menace of drugs is a multipronged strategy which from one side includes robust law enforcement, while on the other side education and awareness are key steps, which, if timely taken, can help prevent a youngster from consuming drugs.
“Young people naturally tend to explore new experiences.
Adolescents nowadays have more exposure to substances and substance use behaviours. When they see other adults or peers using substances, they can be driven by curiosity to try,” Dr Sneha Sharma, Consultant- Psychiatry and Drug De-addiction, Aakash Healthcare, told this newspaper.
She said increasing stress from academic pressures, personal relationships, or unresolved mental health issues like anxiety and depression also lead to either trying or continuing substance use as a coping mechanism.
Moreover, unstable family environments, lack of communication, or exposure to drug use in the family are also a known factor for mental health issues and substance use.
“Educating and spreading awareness through schools and communities initiatives. Teens and adolescents should especially be provided comprehensive drug education, including the risks and long-term consequences of drug use,” Dr Sharma said.
She says that promoting resilience, healthy relationships, and emotional well-being from an early age is crucial for long-term prevention. It’s also important to reduce the stigma around mental health, so young people feel comfortable seeking help when needed.
COPS’ EFFORTS
Operation Kavach was launched all over Delhi in the month of May 2023 to focus on identifying and apprehending individuals involved in the trafficking and distribution of narcotics. During this operation, it was decided to target both street-level dealers and high-level traffickers and to have both top-to-bottom and bottom-to-top approaches to effectively counter drug trafficking. Till now, a total of four operations under Kavach have been conducted and during these operations, a significant quantity of drugs was seized with the arrest of many drug offenders.