A contraband ‘trip’ from India to around the world

They call it a trip. Probably it’s the process of gradual de-linking from reality with, of course, pleasant feelings tagged on. Samuel Taylor Coleridge (who wrote Kublai Khan and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner) would not be half the writer he was without his opium-induced trips.

“To tell the story of Coleridge without opium is to tell the story of Hamlet without mentioning the ghost,” wrote a critic. Obviously, he was not the only one among the great creative spirits to experience wild flights of fancy under influence. Early men discovered the strange properties of certain plants quite early and sought to give intoxication some legitimacy by associating it with religion. Bhang and ganja have been a part of Indian religious tradition for long. Social consumption was just the natural extension. But what was limited to a select few and to select occasions has broken free of confinement.

The democratisation of the use of drugs has spawned a roaring business enterprise. The trip contraband makes is a complex operation now, involving consumers, suppliers and the supply chain. With drug preferences and the consumer base changing, the business has been in transition.

But Mumbai, with its peculiar connect to all parts of the country, courtesy its vast migrant population, and significant user base, has remained a constant in the drugs map. It also remains a major transshipment point for traditional drugs by virtue of its accessibility by sea and illegal marine routes. But before zeroing in on Mumbai, it is pertinent to have an overview of the drugs scene in the country.

What makes India such an important hub for drug trafficking? For one, its strategic location between the Golden Crescent and the Golden Triangle, the two major illicit opium producing zones in Asia.

The Golden Crescent comprises Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran, while the troika of Burma, Thailand and Laos form the Golden Triangle. India itself is one of the largest producers of illicit opium.

The Islamic revolution and the outbreak of war in Afghanistan in 1979 dragged India into the newly-drawn heroin supply arrangement in the region.

The volatile politics of the region disturbed and diverted regular heroin smuggling networks. Another change in the geo-political situation was the turmoil in Sri Lanka and the involvement of several militant groups with drug trafficking in India.

“The biggest source of opium in the world is said to be Afghanistan, from where it is smuggled to Pakistan. Once in Pakistan, it is pushed into the border areas of Punjab, Gujarat and Rajasthan to India. Smuggling can be done both by human carriers and animals. Camels carrying huge loads of opium or heroin have been seized in the past,” said a former senior officer with the Intelligence Bureau. Local carriers or suppliers move in hereafter transporting the contraband to major cities through train and water routes and road transport, he added. Once in major cities, mostly Mumbai, the goods are shipped out to destinations in Europe, Africa and even the Americas.

“Besides European countries, heroin is believed to be smuggled from Mumbai to Nigeria on a large scale. Banned substances to prepare drugs seized from places like New York and cities in France in the last few years highlight India’s big role in the international drug trafficking racket,’’ an international report says. But the consumer base, especially in cities like Mumbai, is significant. It has helped the trade to flourish.

The sources and the supply routes of traditional drugs to Mumbai has not changed much in recent years. Hashish and marijuana are sourced from opium producing belts of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The red corridor of the Maoists is also one of the biggest producers of marijuana. Interestingly, after Indian authorities constructed an electric fence along the India-Pakistan border in Punjab and parts of Rajasthan in 1999, traffickers have started taking the Jammu and Kashmir route. In Mumbai, authorities have seized huge quantities of contraband transported from the state from time to time.

But what is interesting is the changing profile of the peddlers with the advent of newer drugs. “Earlier, the drug peddler community was part of the mafia or a gang operating in the city, but gradually this has changed. Since the late 1990s, educated people working as senior professionals have started supplying drugs in their limited circles,” said a senior police officer with the anti-narcotics cell (ANC).

“The rave parties busted over the years have brought out the fact.”
Also, the arrests made by the ANC and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in recent busts reveal the involvement of several new entrants. The arrest of a chemical engineer and an entrepreneur who had set up an illegal lab illustrate this. The investment is small but the returns are huge, the police officer said.

New generation drugs like ecstacy, LSD, star and speed have a supply chain that involves tourist guides and cab drivers ferrying tourists. Many small time actresses, models, model coordinators and film crew coordinators are also said to be major suppliers in the film and entertainment arena.

These drugs, prepared by illegally synthesising legal drugs in laboratories, have their hubs in Gujarat, Punjab, West Bengal and a few other states. Cocaine, is majorly supplied by Nigerians, who get the drug smuggled from Europe of African countries and then sell it here to suppliers. Also many of them have now set up their bases in the cities and supply the drug themselves to clients nowadays.

The use of the Internet to move drugs to consumers has provided a sophisticated edge to the trade. According to a United Nations report, illegal firms in the guise of software companies allow transactions of banned pharmaceutical preparations to be made over the Internet.