The detection and seizure of weed and cocaine by customs officers throughout Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and different zones surged within the run as much as the Christmas and New Yr celebrations, with circumstances even involving overseas nationals concealing narcotics price crores of their our bodies.
Delhi customs reported registered almost half a dozen circumstances in December alone involving overseas nationals arriving at Indira Gandhi Worldwide Airport (IGI) from Kenya, Brazil, the Philippines, and different international locations hiding over Rs 50 crore price of cocaine capsules inside their our bodies.
Only a week earlier than Christmas, Mumbai customs reported a number of giant seizures of hydroponic weed (marijuana) price crores at Mumbai Worldwide Airport. The contraband was hidden in breakfast cereal bins, passenger baggage, meals packets, undergarments, and toys. Earlier final month, Mumbai customs destroyed narcotic medicine and psychotropic substances (NDPS), resembling heroin, cocaine, marijuana, and charas price Rs 410 crore, weighing almost 55 kg, on the Frequent Hazardous Waste Therapy, Storage & Disposal Facility in Navi Mumbai.
In the meantime in Chennai, customs reported that the Air Intelligence Unit seized cocaine price Rs 14.2 crore, weighing 1,424 grams, from a Kenyan girl touring from Addis Ababa on December 7.
Modus Operandi
In what may recommend the involvement of organised crime networks, traffickers might be utilizing equivalent strategies to smuggle cocaine into the nation since a lot of circumstances emerged the place capsules have been hid inside human our bodies and required medical extraction at Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital.
In a single such case, Delhi customs intercepted two passengers, a person and a lady, touring from Sao Paulo, Brazil, by way of Paris on December 24. Each passengers exhibited “uncommon behaviour” after crossing the inexperienced channel and “voluntarily” admitted to carrying illicit items.
Below medical supervision at Safdarjung Hospital, a complete of 105 capsules containing 937 grams of cocaine have been recovered from the male passenger, whereas 58 capsules containing 462 grams of cocaine have been recovered from the feminine passenger. The estimated worth of the seizure was Rs 20.98 crore, officers stated in an announcement.
One other case concerned a Filipino nationwide touring from Bangkok by way of Addis Ababa on December 13. The person had ingested 90 cocaine capsules, weighing 676 grams and valued at Rs 10.14 crore, which have been extracted by means of medical procedures.
Intelligence Enter
Whereas vigilance and “cutting-edge profiling methods” are getting used to forestall the entry of illicit merchandise into the nation, customs officers are additionally counting on intelligence inputs to determine perpetrators.
For example, on December 19, Mumbai customs intercepted a passenger arriving from Bangkok and seized hydroponic marijuana price Rs 11.32 crore. The contraband, weighing 11.322 kilograms, was hidden in vacuum-sealed plastic pouches contained in the passenger’s trolley bag.
The Directorate of Income Intelligence (DRI), in its 2023–24 report, stated that India has witnessed a marked improve within the availability and use of each conventional medicine, resembling cocaine, heroin, hashish, and opium, and artificial substances like methamphetamine, MDMA, and different new psychoactive substances (NPS).
The report stated that there’s additionally a rise within the illicit export of “Indian-manufactured pharmaceutical merchandise” that may substitute for narcotic substances. The rise in cocaine smuggling is especially notable, with trafficking routes extending from South America by way of Africa and the Center East.
International cocaine manufacturing on the rise
International cocaine manufacturing reached a document excessive in 2022, with over 2,700 tonnes produced and 355,000 hectares below coca bush cultivation—a 20 per cent improve from the earlier 12 months, based on the United Nations World Drug Report 2024,
Cocaine trafficking has expanded eastwards over the previous decade, with a number of Asian international locations reporting giant seizures and rising demand in rising markets. In Oceania, trafficking continued to rise in 2022.
The illicit provide and use of ketamine are additionally rising in East and South-East Asia, in addition to in new markets throughout Europe, Oceania, and North America. Illicitly produced ketamine is marketed in visually interesting mixtures resembling “pink cocaine” and “comfortable water.” International seizures of ketamine reached a document excessive in 2022, with a 70 per cent improve in East and South-East Asia and notable rises in different areas, the report stated.
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