Occasional Paper

THE DRUG MENACE: DIMENSIONS, TRENDS AND TRIBULATIONS IN PUNJAB

P. S. VERMA

2014

INSTITUTE FOR DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATION, CHANDIGARH

© Institute for Development and Communication, 2014

Published by Institute for Development and Communication, 2014 Sector 38-A, Chandigarh - 160 014,

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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission in writing of Institute for Development and Communication. THE DRUG MENACE: DIMENSIONS, TRENDS AND TRIBULATIONS IN PUNJAB Prof. P.S. Verma

The use of illicit psychoactive substances, which is relatively concentrated among youths, has assumed global dimensions. It is not bound by territory or, for that matter, caste, class, religion, ethnicity, region and country. As a matter of fact, the tentacles of illicit drugs have spread far and wide covering every community and country in the world. According to some scholars, “the pursuit of consciousness alteration through the use of both legal and illegal psychoactive substances is a pervasive feature of humans” and “there are only a few recorded instances of societies anywhere in history that have lived without the use” of such types of substances1. However, the traditional drug use of plant based natural substances like opium, etc. was limited mainly to socio-cultural ceremonies, festive occasions, meditation and medicinal purposes. It was neither stigmatized nor had assumed any widespread epidemic dimensions. But this was changed when the use of narco-drugs had become a health concern threatening humans, especially in the nineteenth century. As per the World Drug Report: “Opium and cannabis……… have long been used in Asia and, later, in Africa and Europe; the same is true for coca leaf in the Andean sub-region and khat in the countries in the area of the Gulf of Aden. Moreover, a number of hallucinogenic plants have also long been consumed by humans. Traditional drug use was limited largely to special religious and social events, as well as some medical use. This changed in the nineteenth century when opium became a big business. Opium dens became popular throughout East and South-East Asia and large-scale drug addiction developed as a result”2. The increasing pace of urbanization and “concomitant industrial acceleration”, which “uprooted a vast humanity from its close rural environs” and weakened or dissolved social cohesion to a considerable degree, gave further impetus to substance abuse. In addition, the developments in the chemical and processing technology had revolutionalized the processing technology and production of mood-

1 altering substances “of varying potencies and varying effects”, resulting in “a great variety of more potent and therefore harmful drugs and substances”3 flooding the markets and making the drug use a social problem jeopardizing the health and welfare of people. By the twentieth century, it had engulfed the entire world. In the absence of any regulation of drug trade, the consumption of intoxicating substances had increased manifold and lots of people were hooked on nacro-drugs. It was estimated that in China the consumption of opiates each year had averaged more than 3000 tons in morphine equivalent at the beginning of the twentieth century, prior to the adoption of the first international drug control treaty (i.e. the opium convention) signed at the Hague on 23 January 1912. Similarly, in America about 90 percent of the narcotic drug consumption was for non-medical purposes4. Such an abysmal situation had forced governments to enact stringent laws to combat the growing drug menace. A variety of measures like tough laws, harsh punishment including death penalty in some countries, sanctions, decertification, crop eradication etc. were tried to tackle and curb the ever widening drug peril. Barring few countries, the three UN drug control Conventions adopted in 1961, 1971 and 1988 had also acquired universal support or allegiance. Moreover, the UN “Decade against Drug Abuse” was declared and a “war on drugs” was mounted besides promoting institutions at the regional and international levels and launching the “shared responsibility” project. These efforts, inter alia, brought about some “stability” in the consumption and production of illicit drugs in certain areas, including the western world. Nevertheless, the goals of preventing drug abuse and curbing their production, availability and supply have remained far from achieved. In fact, governments across the world have failed to meet the objectives of international treaties or conventions on the subject. Paradoxically, the use and production of illicit narco drugs and psychotropic substances have continued rising in several parts, including the South and South-East Asia. As an example, the estimated production of opium poppy at the global level had increased from 4700 tons in 2010 to 7000 tons in 2011. Likewise, the area under opium poppy cultivation increased from 191,000 hectares in 2010 to some 207,000 in

2 20115. As much as 5800 tons of estimated production and 1,31,000 hectares of illicit cultivation of opium poppy in 2011 took place in Afghanistan alone. According to reports, the total area under poppy cultivation in Afghanistan had reached a record high of 1,54,000 hectares in 2012 and 2,09,000 hectares in 2013. Similarly, “the number of households growing cannabis plant as a cash crop leapt by more than a third, to about 65,000 compared with 47,000 in 2010”. As per the estimates of the Government of Afghanistan, the livelihood of some 1,91,500 rural households in the year 2011, depended on the growing of illicit drugs mainly opium poppy6. Incidentally, according to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, “since 2002 the United States has spent at least $7 billion on a wide variety of programs to reduce poppy cultivation, prevent production, treat drug addiction, and improve the criminal justice system to combat drug trafficking” (www.sigar.mil/pdf/audits/sigar-14.21-Typdf). Apart from Afghanistan, approximately 51,000 ha of opium poppy, according to INCB report, was illicitly cultivated in Myanmar in 2012, representing 17 percent increase over 2011. Similarly, in Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the cultivation of illicit opium poppy increased from 1,500 hectares in 2007 to 6,800 in 2012”7. Besides this, the cultivation of illicit cannabis in Indonesia and Philippines and seizures of methamphetamine in China, Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar in 2011 were no less significant. Contrabands like heroin, Amphetamine - type stimulants (ATS) and pharmaceutical preparations have become major drugs of abuse in the East and South-East Asia. Moreover, some countries in South America produce, consume and traffic cocaine, cannabis etc; while Morocco, Congo, Ghana, Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa etc. consume and traffic cannabis herb, cannabis resin and amphetamine – type stimulants. “Globally, it is estimated that in 2010 between 153 million and 300 million people aged 15-64 (3.4 – 6.6 percent of the world’s population in that age group) had used an illicit substance at least once in the previous year. The extent of illicit drug use has thus remained stable, but the estimated 15.5 million – 38.6 million problem drug users (at most 12 percent of illicit drug users),

3 including those with drug dependence and drug-use disorders, remain a particular concern”8. The most feared drugs like heroin, cocaine etc “kill around 0.2 million people each year”. What is more, “the global average prevalence of HIV among injecting drug users is estimated at 17.9% or equivalently, 2.8 million people who inject drugs are HIV positive. This means that nearly 9 one in five injecting drug users is living with HIV” . Comparatively, the most widely used illicit drug at the global level is cannabis followed by opioids (heroin, morphine, prescription opioids etc), opiates, cocaine, ATS and ecstasy. This may further be seen from the table as under: Table I Annual prevalence and number of illicit drug users at the global level in 2010 Substance Prevalence percentage Number in thousands Low High Low High Cannabis 2.6 5.0 1,19,420 2,24,490 Opioids 0.6 0.8 26,380 36,120 Opiates 0.3 0.5 12,980 20,990 Cocaine 0.3 0.4 13,200 19,510 ATS 0.3 1.2 14,340 52,540 Ecstasy 0.2 0.6 10,480 28,120 Any illicit drug 3.4 6.6 1,53,000 3,00,000

Source: UNODC, World Drug Report, United Nations, New York, 2012, P1. The drug business, which does not operate in isolation, has increased exponentially over the years. According to the World Drug Report, the illicit drug economy was about $320 billion for the year 2003. Some believe that the profit from an annual turnover of $400 to $500 billion is reaped by the syndicates that control the production and distribution of narcotics10. Further, it is maintained that with a turnover of around $500 billon, the drug economy is the third largest business, “next to petroleum and arms trade”11. The cultivation, production and trafficking of illicit narcotic drugs that have attracted worldwide consumers had flourished in different areas, including South Asia (especially Pakistan,

4 Afghanistan), South East Asia (Myanmar, Lao People’s Democratic Republic etc), Central and South America, North America (Mexico) and parts of Oceania, West Asia and Africa. The perilous drug affliction, according to reports, started unfolding around 1960s and, in terms of consumption, North America became the largest market followed by Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa and South America. However, over the decades, the illicit drug use pattern has somewhat shifted from the developed world to the developing countries. “While prevalence of drug use is stabilizing or even declining in some respects in Western countries, it is increasing in others”12. The travesty is that the consumption of narco drugs and psychoatropic substances has become substantial in the drug producing and transiting countries. Widespread use of synthetic drugs and activities of illegal internet pharmacies, counterfeit medicines etc have also made it a global phenomenon affecting every region and country. It is rightly observed that, “Dividing countries into the categories of ‘drug producing’, ‘drug consuming’ or ‘transiting countries’ has long ceased to be realistic. To varying degrees, all countries are drug-producers and drug-consumers and have drugs transiting through them. The problem of synthetic drugs exemplifies that evolution”13. In the present situation, the diversion of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursor chemicals (ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, acetic anhydride etc) from licit distributing channels has also become a major source of supply for illicit markets. “A diverted substance may be used for illicit purposes in the country in which it was diverted, or it may be smuggled into other countries” where there exists illicit demand for the substance14. Among the narcotic drugs, the diverted substances in the form of pharmaceutical preparations include opioid analgesics (fentanyle, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, morphine oxycodone etc) and among the psychotropics it includes stimulants (amphetamines, methylphenidate and anorectics), anxiolytics and sedative-hypnotics such as benzodiazepines (especially diazepam, alprazolan, lorazepam, clonazepam, flunitrazepam and midazolam), barbiturates and gamma- hydroxybutyric acid (GHB)15. In the case of precursor chemicals, “the diversion of acetic anhydride from domestic distribution channels ….

5 has become the most common method of obtaining that chemical for use in illicit heroin manufacture. In addition, potassium permanganate is increasingly being obtained by illicit manufacture”16. Ephedrine and pseudo – ephedrine “are widely used in the manufacture of medicines especially cough syrups. They are also essential ingredients for the illicit manufacture of synthetic drugs. India produces large quantities of these precursor chemicals for legitimate use”17. The supply network of the international criminal gangs, among others has also used pharmaceutical companies in the illicit sale of controlled substances like pseudoephedrine and ephedrine for manufacturing psychotropic drugs like methamphetamine, ATS etc. The diversion of pharmaceutical prescription drugs (opioids, depressants, stimulants) from domestic distribution channels has become a major problem, making them “more important as drugs of abuse in many countries”18. Above all, the diversion and abuse of drugs used in substitution treatment (buprenorphine, methadone and morphine) has acquired serious proportions. It has been found that “preparations containing buprenorphine have been dissolved in liquid and then injected intravenously”19. Since the use of prescription opioids for non-medical use has emerged as a major threat to humankind all over the world, it needs to be attended and targeted sooner than later. The diversion of the controlled precursor chemicals for manufacturing illicit drugs and psychotropic substances has wreaked havoc all over the world. THE ILLICIT DRUG USE AND TRAFFICKING IN INDIA India is equally affected by drug abuse and trafficking. In the past, limited use of cannabis or Bhang had formed a part of the socio-cultural ceremonies in different parts of the country. The consumption of Bhang (Cannabis) on festivals like Durga Puja, Dasehra, Holi, Dipawali, Sankranti, Ramnavami, Shivratri etc was commonly practiced by various castes and communities. “The plant is popularly believed to have been a great favourite of Siva”20. For some sects in the country it is “one of the objects of their worship”. Moreover, the Fakirs, Sanyasis and ascetics had been using Bhang, Charas and Ganja on a casual or regular basis. With regard to opium, some believe that “it became popular during the Mughal period. Until recently cocaine had many enthusiasts,

6 especially in the red light areas. The post-war period saw the rise of synthetic drugs – both stimulants and depressants”21. At present, the use of illicit narco drugs and psychotropic substances has permeated all regions and sections of the Indian society. The country, which was previously used as a transit point to smuggle narco-drugs, especially Afghan heroin, to Europe, Canada and USA, has itself become the consumer of heroin, smack, charas, ganja, pharmaceutical drugs and amphetamine - type substances. As per the UN report, “Among those treated for drug problems in India in 2010, 22 per cent abused cannabis, 66 per cent opioids (33 percent heroin, 14 per cent opium and 19 per cent prescription opioids) and 12 per cent other substances”22. The single largest group among them consisted of heroin addicts. The use of heroin in India has increased over the years. According to some, there were as many as five million heroin addicts in India. “In 2009, the total value of the South Asian heroin market – estimated at US$ 1.9 billion – mostly went to Indian local criminal groups. With a value of US$1.4 billion, the biggest market is in India”23. Although lots of heroin users in India have used Indian manufactured heroin, traffickers have preferred to export it from Afghanistan and other areas because of quality, purity and onward trafficking to foreign lands. Indian heroin and the codeine based pharmaneutical preparations are also supplied to neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka24. According to 2013 INCSR report: “India’s geographic location makes it an attractive trans-shipment area for heroin bound for Europe, Africa, South East Asia and North America. In addition, India is authorized by the international community to produce licit opium for pharmaceutical uses…. India is also a major producer of precursor chemicals including acetic anhydride (AA), ephedrine and pseudoephedrine”25. Though the major opium poppy cultivating countries in Asia are Afghanistan, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand etc, India too, grows illicit opium poppy on thousands of hectares. Anti- narcotics agencies have eliminated large-scale illicit cultivation of opium poppy in different areas of the country. Yet the cultivation goes on unabated in several states.

7 Table II State-wise destruction of illicit poppy cultivation* (2006-10) in Acres Year Average States per 2000-2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 year Arunachal 2 2186 1107 627 1238 1031.60 Pradesh Manipur 30 22 850 174.40 Uttarakhand 41 7 6 380 4 428 165.00 Bihar 7 27 5 7.80 Jharkhand 209 217 353 208 197.40 West Bengal 1 34 15615 27 740 3941 4071.40 Karnataka 83.5 0.5 0.10 Orissa 9 1.80 Jammu & 1029 350 1470 0 3027 418 1053.00 Kashmir Himachal 370 245 506 82 754 533 424.00 Pradesh Total 1557 636 20014 1820 5532 7630.5 7126.50

* Provisional figures Source: Narcotics Control Bureaus’ Annual Report, 2010, p.17. According to the International Narcotics Control Board’s report, the area under illicit opium poppy cultivation in India was estimated to be 7,500 hectares. In 2010, 1,022 hectare of illicit cultivated opium poppy was eradicated by authorities besides 681 hectares of cannabis plant. Similarly, almost 6,000 hectares of illicitly grown opium poppy was destroyed by the authorities in India in 201126. As much as 3,396 ha of illicit poppy cultivation was destroyed in certain states like Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal27. Some popular drugs made out of cannabis like the ‘Malana-cream’ of Himachal Pradesh and the ‘Manipuri Ganja’ are known for high quality in the domestic and international markets. This illicit cultivation is practiced mostly in the mountainous regions and backward pockets.

8 The opium poppy cultivation in the country is prohibited except under a license issued by the Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN) under Rule 8 of the NDPS Act. The Central Government has allowed licit poppy cultivation only in select areas of three traditionally opium growing states namely Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. India is the only country authorized by the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961) to produce gum opium. There are 11 other countries that are allowed to cultivate poppy but cannot extract gum28. The process is that the CBN issues licenses every year in October according to which the licit cultivators are required to tender their produce to the government. After the harvest, the opium gum is collected by the CBN and sent to the processing centres at Neemuch in Madhya Pradesh and Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh “where the opium is purified, dried, weighed and packaged for export or partially refined to supply to Indian pharmaceutical companies”29. In practice, the norm of tendering entire produce to the government appears to be only theoretical. There is no dearth of cases pertaining to diversion of opium poppy grown for medicinal purposes to illicit market. Instead of selling the entire produce of opium to the authorized agencies of the government, a part of the product is suspected to be diverted to the illicit nacro traders. In 2013, a special cell of Delhi police revealed that in one of the villages of Uttar Pradesh, where opium was grown legally for medicinal purposes, a large portion of the produce went to the party circuit in major metros. Interestingly enough, an opium cultivator in Bareilly district, who had acquired the skill of manufacturing heroin from opium, used to prepare the contraband in his village fields at night and supplied it to Delhi for hotels and rave parties. When he was nabbed on March 20, 2013, he had revealed that he used to keep a major part of the opium for purposes of preparing heroin. The police suspected that other villages in the area also “sold opium to heroin manufacturers” who had enjoyed a network of smuggling the intoxicant to users in Delhi and other states. According to Delhi police, “a large haul of heroin, sold in certain five star hotels and at rave parties in Delhi and NCR, came from these manufacturers”30. The leakage or sale of licit poppy to illicit drug market appears to have become considerable. The number of cultivators, licensed area, quantity of production and

9 average yield per hectare of licit opium poppy during last ten years may be seen from Table-II as under: Table-II Number of cultivators and area licenses for licit cultivation Crop year Number Area Area Opium Average of licensed harvested production yield kg. per cultivators in in in tons at hectare at licensed hectares hectares 700 700 consistency consistency 2002-03 102042 20410 12320 684 55.520 2003-04 105697 21141 18591 1096 58.950 2004-05 87670 8770 7833 457 58.340 2005-06 72478 7252 6976 442 63.360 2006-07 62658 6269 5913 357 60.380 2007-08 46775 4680 2653 176 66.410 2008-09 44821 11020 8853 524 59.180 2009-10 60787 23425 12237 761 62.180 2010-11* 53775 24541 16518 1014 61.400 2011-12* 48863 23591 12092 775 64.090 *Provisional Source: http://www.cbn.nic.in/html/operations.html, 26.11.2012 online available at www.cbn.nic.in. Besides opium and cannabis, people from the upper echelons of the society have also started consuming cocaine, smuggled from abroad by the foreign nationals (mainly West African smugglers) and NRIs. This apart, the use and manufacturing of psychotropic drugs is also increasing in India. The precursor chemicals ketamine (licitly “used as a veterinary anaesthetic), ephedrine, pseudoephedrine and acetic anhydride are either diverted from legal channels or manufactured clandestinely. Ephedrine and pseudo-ephedrine are used in manufacturing medicines like cough syrups, illicit drugs and psychotropic substances. These chemicals are precursors of ATS. In 2010, one illicit methamphetamine laboratory in Mumbai and three laboratories producing ephedrine were busted in Maharashtra and Gujarat by the National Control Bureau. Seven persons, including the foreign operatives from Iran, Holland, Colombia, China and Australia,

10 were arrested31. Furthermore, the recent seizures of “ice” (reported to be crystal methamaphetamine), being manufactured in a factory at Meerut and some other places in Punjab, reveal that the demand for substances like ATS is increasing in the elitist circles of metros in India. In terms of seizures, various government agencies seized a total of 3.87 tons of , 122.71 tons of ganja, 2.35 tons of opium, 53 kg of morphine, 528 kg of heroin, 14 kg of cocaine, 473 kg of amphetamine, 72 kg methaquelone and 7.21 tons of ephedrine in 2011. These seizures of different contrabands by the various agencies like NCB, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Customs and Central Excise, Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN), state police and state excise may further be seen from table-III as given below. Table-III Various Drugs Seized with Number of Cases (In kg.) Year 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Opium Seizures 2533 1835 1720 2237 2009 2826 2226 2033 1732 1829 2348 Cases 1205 1164 905 775 997 1172 1198 1062 899 1057 892 Morphine Seizures 26 66 109 97 47 36 43 73 42 25 53 Cases 146 148 266 241 135 190 198 260 351 196 147 Heroin Seizures 940 879 991 1162 981 1182 1186 1063 1047 766 528 Cases 3893 4428 5578 4089 4921 5666 5686 4950 3964 3179 2944 Cannabis Seizures 86933 88491 79653 144055 153660 157710 107881 103211 208764 173128 122711 Ganja Cases 7615 4172 9389 3840 9580 8671 9420 9054 9423 7630 4174 Hashish Seizures 3664 3010 3013 4599 3965 3852 5181 4084 3495 4300 3872 Cases 2117 2038 1739 1780 1818 2259 2710 3370 3495 3061 2263 Cocaine Seizures 2 2 3 6 4 206 8 12 12 23 14 Cases 10 5 11 15 26 47 48 50 45 52 80 Methaqual Seizures 2024 7458 345 1614 472 4521 1 2382 5 20 72 one Cases 8 7 4 3 12 7 1 18 1 1 5 Ephedrine Seizures 930 126 3234 72 8 1276 395 1284 1244 2207 7208 Cases 5 4 8 4 2 5 3 9 10 20 20 Acetic Anhydrine Seizures 8589 3288 857 2665 300 133 236 2754 1038 81 0 (in litres) Cases 8 4 6 7 6 4 4 11 12 4 0 Amphetam Seizures 0 0 0 91 0 0 0 20 41 47 473 ine Cases 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 9 2 6 3 LSD (Sq. Seizures 0 - - - 1 0 2077 0 0 0 0 paper) Cases 0 - - - - 0 3 0 0 0 0 Source: The GOI, Ministry of Home Affairs, The Annual Reports of the Narcotic Control Bureau for 2005, 2008, 2010 and 2011, pp 48, 59, 60, 65 respectively.

11 Since India is sandwiched between the ‘Golden Crescent’ (Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran) and ‘Golden Triangle’ (Myanmar, Laos and Thailand), dangerous drugs like heroin, hashish/charas and methamphetamine are frequently smuggled into the country from across the border. They are further transported to Europe, USA and Canada through air and sea routes. In addition, the domestic products consisting of codeine based pharmaceutical preparations and precursor chemicals are also trafficked to international markets. The bulk of heroin and hashish are trafficked into India from Afghanistan and Pakistan through the border states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir. Likewise, heroin and methamphetamine produced in the ‘Golden Triangle’ belt, especially Myanmar, are smuggled into India through India - Myanmar border. The production of opium poppy in Myanmar, according to INCB report 2012, increased by 5 per cent from 2010 to 2011, reaching an estimated 610 tons. In addition, manufacture of ATS (Methamphetamine) has persisted in Myanmar since 2006. This apart, an appreciable quantity of cannabis and its derivatives like hashish and ganja are also smuggled from Nepal and Bhutan “and a corresponding demand for codeine based pharmaceutical preparations as well as low-grade heroin in Nepal and Bhutan have resulted in two way smuggling of narcotics and drugs through the India-Nepal and India-Bhutan borders”32. If the drugs from “Golden Crescent” have shattered the developed state of Punjab, their entry from “Golden Triangle” has wrecked the sensitive north-eastern states, particularly Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland. The heroin from Myanmar and marijuana/ganja grown in Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura are also smuggled into Bangladesh by individual carriers besides the phensedyl bottles, brown sugar and heroin. “These couriers carry these drugs in person when they are crossing the border to avoid detection by the border guarding forces”33. Drugs from India are also smuggled to foreign lands through sea ports like Kolkata, Chennai, Trivendrum, Calicut and Mumbai. Likewise, the heroin, marijuana/ganja and precursor chemicals are flown out to international markets through important airports like Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Trivandrum and Amritsar34. Illegal drugs “enter as well as exit the country” through the aforesaid coasts

12 and airports. The syndicates or international and inter-state criminal gangs, which have been the major beneficiaries of drug trade, have also used economically marginal groups to pedal drugs to various destinations. Among the foreign nationals, the largest number of arrested traffickers belonged to Nepal, Myanmar, Nigeria and Afghanistan. Drug traffickers have been arrested in India from different countries like Iran, Israel, USA, Columbia, Russia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, South Africa, Ghana, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, U.K., France, Germany, Italy etc. Table IV Persons Arrested and Action Taken During 2006-2011 Year 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Persons arrested 20688 22267 20515 20102 20082 18638 including Foreigners

Foreigners arrested 232 181 199 192 225 236

Prosecution

Persons sent up for 19582 23764 24931 19377 19642 21123 prosecution

Disposal of cases

Persons convicted 9921 15390 15973 11418 9770 8563

Persons acquitted 4565 7916 6242 4725 4726 4495

Action taken under PITNDPS (NDPS) Act, 1988

Number of detention orders 4 2 0 0 0 5 issued under PITNDPS Act, 1985

Numbers of persons 4 0 0 0 0 5 detained

Forfeiture of Property

Value of property 20288556 71439344 26233464 27320830 2531980 26513886 frozen (Rs.)

Numbers of cases 12 17 8 17 2 4

Value of property 153159 0 984000 55150000 0 0 forfeited (Rs.)

Numbers of cases 1 0 1 3 0 0

Source: GoI, Ministry of Home Affairs, The Annual Reports of the Narcotics Control Bureau for 2010 and 2011, pp.64 and 52, respectively.

13 The use of pharmaceutical drugs is also growing fast in the country. Similarly, intravenous injections of prescription opioids, mixtures and heroin are practiced in different parts. The use of intravenous drugs among others has also led to HIV/AIDS, which has become a severe problem in some parts of the country. In the North-East region alone about 100,000 persons reportedly live with HIV and AIDS due to drug addiction, sharing of contaminated needles and unsafe sex. As per the Department of AIDS Control, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, “the adult HIV and AIDS prevalence rates in Manipur and Nagaland are 1.57 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively which are well above the national average of 0.34 percent35. The number of Intravenous Drug users (IDU) in the North-East, according to a Health Ministry report, in 2008 was 120,263, which by April 2010 stood at 256,96836. It is mainly the shift in drug use from smoking opium and heroin to injecting heroin and pharmaceutical substances which has driven people to HIV and hepatitis in the region. This area falls in the close proximity of the “golden triangle”. In India, “the North-East reveal connections between conflict and opportunities for trafficking, as also between injected drugs and HIV/AIDS transmission”37. North-East apart, the menace of illicit drug use is raising its head high in the other states too, particularly in the metropolitan cities in different regions. The international criminal gangs combined with local drug mafia have spread their tentacles far and wide. A recent coverage on the electronic media revealed that some foreign nationals connected with drug mafia from Israel and China had made their entry into urban and rural areas of states like Goa. Earlier, the Goa police had seized drugs from the Nepal and Nigerian nationals. The consumption of heroin, cannabis products, psychotropic substances and pharmaceutical preparations has proliferated pushing people into the dangerous zone of deadly diseases in various states. Since a large number of drug users belong to adolescent or young age group, it has caused incalculable loss as thousand die young and get incapacitated in life. Since most drug users belong to the productive age group of 18-35 years, loss in terms of human potential is incalculable. The damage to physical, psychological, moral and intellectual growth of the youth is very high38.

14 What is more, the illicit drug use has also contributed to the growing graph of crime in the country. The problem drug users often resort to brawling, vehicle lifting, theft, extortion, shoplifting, snatching, burglary, robbery, abductions, homicide, domestic violence, assaults, murders, drug trafficking, terrorism etc. Since the traditional value system and other modes of social control like the community, family and parental care have faced erosion under the pressures of urbanization and modern life, the onus is on the state apparatus and civil society groups to brace up and face the drug epidemic. It is imperative to curb the demand and supply of illicit drugs through prevention and strengthening measures of treatment, rehabilitation and social integration of the problem drug users. Socio-economic inequalities and sprawling unemployment too, need to be addressed in order to wean away the poor and unemployed youth from the scourge of illicit drugs and peddling. THE STATE OF PUNJAB The bane of drug abuse in Punjab has acquired the proportions of a pestilence that has shaken the entire society in the state. It is observed that in Punjab “Drug abuse is a raging epidemic, especially among the young”39. The most distinctive feature is that it has wrecked the younger generation and has also fueled crime, anomie and deadly health hazards. The state is turned into the heaviest consumer of various types of mood-altering or mind-altering substances or “intoxicants that benumb the body and modify one or more of its functions”. Astonishingly, the consumption of psychoactive substances has become equally startling among the youths belonging to weaker sections of the state resulting in a sizeable number of drug users among the poor and marginal families residing in urban and rural areas. The empirical component of a study undertaken by the Institute for Development and Communication (IDC) on the drug abuse reveals that a considerable number of the sampled substance abusers (1527) from the border districts (Ferozepur, Gurdaspur, Tarn Taran and Amritsar) of Punjab belonged to two categories viz. the land owning peasant and the agriculture labourers. This shows that the dominant castes of farmers

15 and weaker section in the state have been overwhelmingly affected by the drug menace. THE YOUNG-AGE FACTOR The most disturbing aspect of drug menace in Punjab is that there exists a strong relationship between the illicit drug use and the younger age group. This trend is clearly revealed by the IDC study which suggests that more than three-fourths of the sample substance abusers in the four border districts belonged to the age group of 15-35 years, indicating a high vulnerability of younger people to the psychoactive substances40. Table V Age of the Sample Drug Abusers in Border Districts of Punjab 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Districts 6-15 16-25 26-35 36-45 46-55 56 Years Total Years Years Years Years Years and above Ferozepur 18 109 123 65 33 17 365 4.9% 29.9% 33.7% 17.8% 9.0% 4.7% 100% Gurdaspur 12 194 111 52 30 11 410 2.9% 47.3% 27.1% 12.7% 7.3% 2.7% 100% Tarn 8 177 99 61 15 12 372 Taran 2.2% 47.6% 26.6% 16.4% 4.0% 3.2% 100% Amritsar 8 196 102 39 24 11 380 2.1% 51.6% 26.8% 10.3% 6.3% 2.9% 100% Total 46 676 435 217 102 51 1527 3.0% 44.3% 28.5% 14.2% 6.7% 3.3% 100%

Source: P.S. Verma and Vaishali Mishra, Study on Drug Abuse in the Border Districts of Punjab, (Unpublished Report), Institute for Development and Communication, Chandigarh, 2010, p.46. Another study on the drug abuse in Punjab has revealed that about 48 percent of the illicit drug users “start consuming drugs before they reach 20 years of age and out of them 80 percent of the addicts are in the age group of 20-30 years”41. Likewise, Prof. R.S. Sandhu in his study noted that 73.5 percent addicts in the 16-35 age group from a study sample of 600 addicts in Punjab were hooked to drugs (The Indian

16 Express, April 26, 2014). This apart, according to a survey (2009), 66 percent of the school going students in the state consume “gutka” or tobacco; every third male and every tenth female student has taken to drugs on one pretext or another and seven out of 10 college going students are into drug abuse42. Even in the case of city beautiful (i.e. Chandigarh) as much as 52.7 percent boys in the colleges were into substance abuse as revealed by a study conducted by medical interns at the Government Medical college and Hospital (GMCH), Chandigarh43. This makes it evident that the problem of illicit drug use among youths, who, in most cases, obtain initial doses from friends or their peers, has become alarming. The preponderance of young age group was also noticed among the problem drug users who had received treatment at a de-addiction centre in the Ludhiana city. Regarding this, while discussing the nature of drug problem at the D.N. Kotnis Health and Education Centre, Salem Tapri, Ludhiana, I found that an overwhelming number (i.e. 81.24%) of the drug dependents treated in the centre belonged to the age group of 40 years and below. This may further be seen from Table-VI as under: Table VI Age-wise distribution of patients treated at the de-addiction centre, DN Kotnis Health and Education Centre, Ludhiana (from April 2009 to March 2010) Age Group Number of Patients Percentages 16-24 years 43 20.67 25-40 years 126 60.57 40 and above 39 18.76 Total 208 100.00

Amazingly, even the children belonging to the age group of 10-13 years have been sucked into the whirlpool of drugs. According to psychologists, “we receive 10-15 percent of the addicts belonging to the age group of 10 to 15 years ….. mostly addicted to soft drugs such as alcohol and cigarettes”44. In one of the cases, a 12-year-old son of a tea stall owner, who began smoking Bidi and then addicted to dried cannabis, sought help to get rid of his addiction at a de-addiction centre in Sangrur. What is more, eleven boys, all below 13 years, were brought

17 to Faridkot from Kotkapura on August 16, 2011, in a van sent by the Deputy Commissioner, for their treatment at the Red Cross de-addiction centre, Faridkot. They were addicted to various synthetic drugs. These boys belonged to poor families and were encouraged and lured for extra bucks by their own parents and some adult drug addicts of the locality45. Once hooked, such children are either involved in drug trafficking or pushed into the world of petty crime like stealing, snatching, burglary, stabbing etc. Incidentally, the children from poor families have become more amenable to drug abuse. A file photo from a national daily, as shown below, also indicates about the vulnerability of children falling prey to drug addiction.

. The whole of Punjab is in the grip of a drug hurricane which weakens the morale, physique and character of the youth,’ admits the state government. HT FILE PHOTO Source: The Hindustan Times, October 14, 2012 Invariably, couriers and peddlers have attempted to sell drugs in the close vicinity of schools and colleges to involve students. They have also developed skills to rope in students to flourish the drug mafia. On November 21, 2011, a young-age group peddler from Naya Gaon town of Punjab, situated in the periphery of Chandigarh, was arrested with charas which he had received from areas near Manali in Himachal Pradesh. He used to claim about the “purity of material” in his consignment as part of his “exclusive students services”46. As the peddlers target youths, lots of youngsters have fallen prey to their design and got addicted. Being

18 unemployed and short of funds, many of the drug dependents would eventually be involved in offences like drug peddling. In one of the police stations in Patiala, I found that 29.41 percent of the peddlers arrested with intoxicants in 2011 and 2012, belonged to the age group of 25 years and below. Strikingly enough, as much as 72.54 percent, out of the total offenders caught for drug peddling, were in the age of 35 years and below (Table-VII). Thus, a large number of youthful drug consumers have become traffickers of deadly drugs. In short, the problem of psychoactive substances in Punjab has become a matter of serious concern as the bulk of consumers and traffickers represent the people falling in the most productive age group. Table VII Age-wise distribution of persons arrested with drugs under the NDPS Act by the police at the Passiana Police Station in 2011 and 2012 Age Groups 2011 2012 Total 4 11 15 15-25 years (16.00) (42.31) (29.41) 12 10 22 26-35 years (48.00) (38.46) (43.13) 3 4 7 36-45 years (12.00) (15.39) (13.73) 6 6 46-55 years - (24.00) (11.77) 1 1 56-65 years - (3.84) (1.96) 25 26 51 Total (100.00) (100.00) (100.00)

Source: Data based on information collected by the author from the Police Station. THE PROFILE OF DRUG DEPENDENTS Since the use of illicit drugs is concentrated among youths, it becomes interesting to know their socio-economic characteristics like education, occupation and other social attributes. Regarding this, the IDC study (2010) of drug abusers from the four border districts of Punjab revealed that 43.6 percent of them were educated only up to primary and middle

19 school level. Of the remaining, 21.6 percent had obtained matriculation, 12.4 percent senior secondary, 2 percent graduation and above and 20.4 percent were illiterates (Table-VIII). This makes it evident that a large number of the sampled drug abusers were either illiterate or studied only up to primary and middle school levels. Moreover, those who had obtained matriculation and senior secondary education or, for that matter, graduation and above lacked professional education which matters in the present-day job market. Some village elders, however, pointed out that most of the youngsters, in spite of completing their matriculation, have remained unemployed and many of them followed the path of substance abuse in frustration. Unemployment may not be the sole factor driving them to substance abuse but it has certainly caused frustration and disillusionment resulting in deviance and drug addiction. In addition, lack of employment opportunities have caused aversion and disgust prompting youths to drop out from schools and subsequently getting induced to drug abuse and peddling. The number of educated unemployed (i.e. matriculates and above) in the state in 2011 was as high as 2,82,511. Table VIII Level of Literacy among the Sample Drug Abusers in Border Districts 1 2 3 4 5 6 District Illiterate Under Matriculation Senior Graduate Total Matriculate Secondary and Above 94 170 61 31 9 365 Ferozepur 25.8% 46.6% 16.7% 8.5% 2.5% 100% 62 150 128 62 8 410 Gurdaspur 15.1% 36.5% 31.2% 15.1% 1.9% 100%

Tarn 60 188 73 45 6 372 Taran 16.1% 50.5% 19.6% 12.1% 1.6% 100% 95 158 68 51 8 380 Amritsar 25.0% 41.6% 17.9% 13.4% 2.1% 100% 311 666 330 189 31 1527 Total 20.4% 43.6% 21.6% 12.4% 2.0% 100% Source: P.S. Verma and Vaishali Mishra (2010).

20 With regard to occupation, the single largest group (37.0%), out of the total 1527 sampled respondents, belonged to the families of medium and small agriculturists followed by landless labourers (27.5 percent), private service and self-employed (19.2 percent), students (3.7 percent), government service (3.1 percent), business (2.9 percent) and others (7.0 percent). Table IX Occupation 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Private Trade Govt. Service & District Agriculture Labour Student and Others Total Service Self- Business Employment

165 74 14 59 13 7 33 365 Ferozepur 45.2% 20.3% 3.8% 16.1% 3.6% 1.9% 9.0% 100%

124 136 18 82 19 17 14 410 Gurdaspur 30.2% 33.2% 4.4% 20.0% 4.6% 4.1% 3.4% 100%

145 110 10 82 9 7 19 382 Tarn Taran 39.0% 29.6% 2.7% 19.4% 2.4% 1.9% 5.1% 100%

131 100 6 72 15 13 35 372 Amritsar 34.5% 26.3% 1.6% 21.1% 3.9% 3.4% 9.2% 100%

565 420 48 293 56 44 101 1527 Total 37.0% 27.5% 3.1% 19.2% 3.7% 2.9% 7.0% 100%

Source: P.S. Verma and Vaishali Mishra (2010). In terms of status or class of drug users, if opium, cannabis, bhukki (poppy husk), smack and heroin were used by youths belonging to families of agriculturists, heroin, smack, cocaine, codeine and pharmaceuticals were consumed by students and bhukki, Bhang and synthetic drugs (tablets etc.) by the landless labourers. A 16-year-old labourer said, “I started working in the kiln four years ago and ever since have been using bhukki as it helps me work for longer hours”47. It may also be mentioned here that a large number of sample drug abusers (66.3%) were poly drug users. If a drug of their choice was not available, they would switch to other drugs or use multiple substances in combination or consecutively to feed their habit. The substances of abuse included depressants, stimulants, hallucinogens, opium, poppy

21 husk, smack, heroin, cannabis (Ganja, Bhang, Charas), volatile solvents and other prescription drugs. As regards faith, more than half (67.7%) of the sample respondents were Sikhs followed by 25.5 percent Hindus, 5.6 percent Christians and 1.2 percent Muslims. Drug abuse, which transcends community and regional barriers, has become a common problem in the state. People, especially youths, have easily responded to the lure of drugs on account of a variety of factors such as curiosity, peer group influence, festivities, myths related to physical and mental alertness, unemployment and pressure of distress or frustration. The easy availability of drugs through multiple sources has also made them vulnerable to drug abuse. The sources of procuring drugs, according to respondents, were chemist shops, friends, family members, relatives, private doctors, venders, dhabas, pan-cigarette shops, peddlers and suppliers. The facts regarding the sources of procuring drugs may further be seen from the Table-X as under: Table-X Source of Procuring Drugs 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Kiryana Friends/ Store, Relative/ Peddlers/ Dhabas N.R District Chemists Venders Associate/ 1+5 2+4 Misc. Total suppliers and Pan . Private Cigarette Doctors Shops 15 104 59 17 10 29 45 84 2 365 Ferozepur 4.1% 28.5% 16.2% 4.6% 2.7% 8.0% 12.3% 23.1% 0.5% 100% 173 45 36 24 28 28 14 50 12 410 Gurdaspur 42.2% 11.0% 8.8% 5.8% 6.8% 6.8% 3.4% 12.2% 3.0% 100% Tarn 84 50 59 16 15 19 13 102 14 372 Taran 22.6% 13.4% 15.9% 4.3% 4.1% 5.1% 3.5% 27.4% 3.7% 100% 201 50 16 9 10 24 10 19 41 380 Amritsar 52.9% 13.2% 4.2% 2.3% 2.6% 6.3% 2.6% 5.1% 10.8% 100% 473 249 170 66 63 100 82 255 69 1527 Total 31.0% 16.3% 11.1% 4.3% 4.1% 6.6% 5.4% 16.8% 4.5% 100% Source: P.S. Verma and Vaishali Mishra (2010). Interestingly, the use of habit forming harmful drugs available over the counter has gone up in recent decades. Drugs like proxicon, lomotil, alprax, phensedyl syrup, corex, Benadryl, parvon forte, parvon spas,

22 proxivon, diazepam etc. are available at chemists shops. So much so, some Kiryana (grocery/ration shop) shops have been reportedly selling lomotil and fenotil to drug addicts without a prescription48. Recently, the Lehragaga police () claimed to have seized over 4,500 narcotic pills from a furniture shop on 24th June 201349. A comparative study regarding the pattern of drug abuse among patients who attended the de-addiction centre of GGS Medical College and Hospital, Faridkot, in 1994 and 1998 revealed that the percentage of addicts using dextropropoxyphene/diphenoxylate had increased from 11.08 percent in 1994 to 28.25 percent in 199850. Another study revealed that the proportion of subjects using natural opioids had decreased over the three decades (1978-98) with a concomitant increase of newer and prescription opioids such as buprenorphine, codeine and dextropropoxyphene51. Apart from the above mentioned studies, while compiling the data from the annual reports of the four Red Cross led de-addiction centres at Patiala, Khanpur, Nawanshahar and Gurdaspur, I found that out of the 5,114 drug users treated at these centres in 2011-12, the single largest group of 1121 (21.92%) clients was addicted to propoxyphene alone. It was followed by 10.28 percent alcoholics, 7.97 percent multiple drug users, 4.94 percent opiate users, 4.14 percent heroin, 2.50 percent sedative/hypnotice, 1.77 percent cannabis, 1.15 percent Buprenorphine (synthetic opioid), 0.72 percent cough syrup, 0.50 percent Morphine, 0.39 percent Amphetamine, 0.29 percent Volatile solvents, 0.17 percent cocaine and 43.19 percent miscellaneous other substances like Dode, Zarda, Tabacco, Gutka, Bhukki, pharmaceutical tablets and capsules. The inference that one can draw from these facts is that the share of plant based drugs (opium, poppy husk, cannabis, bhang etc.) is decreasing and the proportion of prescription opioids and psychotropic substances is emerging as a dominant factor in the drug scenario of Punjab.

23 Table XI Category of drugs used by the patients treated at the four Red Cross De-addiction Centres in 2011-12

Others Bhukki, Tobacco, Propoxy Multiple Sedative Bupren Cough Amphe Volatile Users Alcohol Opium Heroin Cannabis Morphine Cocaine Gutka, Total phene drugs hypnotics orphine Syrups tamine solvents Dode, Tablets etc.

Number 1121 526 408 253 212 128 91 59 37 26 20 15 9 2209 5114 of Users

% 21.92 10.28 7.97 4.94 4.14 2.50 1.77 1.15 0.72 0.50 0.39 0.29 0.17 43.19 99.93

24 Regarding the mode of drug taking, an overwhelming number i.e. 798 (97.55%), out of the total 818 clients at the Gurdaspur rehabilitation centre, used the oral method whereas a small number of 15 (1.83%) and 5 (0.61%) sniffed and injected drugs, respectively. The facts relating to their background revealed that a large number of the patients represented humble origins and obtained little education. For example, the profile of 818 clients (600 OPD patients and 218 indoor clients), who were treated at the Integrated Rehabilitation Centre, Gurdaspur, from October 2011 to March 2012, revealed that, in terms of education, only 2 of them (0.24%) were graduates, 176 (21.51%) high school, 299 (36.55%) educated upto the primary and middle school level, 129 (15.77%) were literate and 212 (25.91%) illiterate. With regard to their occupation, 252 (30.80%) patients were unemployed, 192 (23.47%) worked as part-timer, 161 (19.68%) self employed, 157 (19.19%) employed in public and private sector, 32 (3.91%) students, 21 (2.56%) government pensioners and 3 (0.36%) were housewives. Regarding marital status, 527 (64.42%) were married, 159 (19.34%) married but separated on account of drug abuse etc. 81 (9.91%) bachelors, 23 (2.81%) widowed/widowers and about the remaining 28 (3.42%) information was not available. The use of illicit drugs has terribly impacted the life of drug dependents and their families. Separation due to substance abuse is emerging as a serious social problem in areas infested with illicit drugs. In some localities and villages, it has also led to matrimonial problems. Besides above, during the course of personal contacts over the telephone with the project officers of six de-addiction centres being run at different places like Kapurthala, Phagwara, Zira, Kharar, Dyalpura and Mahilpur, it was found that a large number of drug abusers in these centres were addicted to heroin, smack and synthetic opioids. Use of traditional drugs like Bhukki, which is, reportedly, taken “either as chura (ground husk) with water or brewed in water and consumed as karah (concentrate)”, still persists but gradually decreasing due to the ascendance of pharmaceutical substances, heroin, smack etc. Since

25 heroin and smack are costly drugs, their increasing use has also resulted in rise of economic crimes like snatching, robbery, theft etc. According to a psychiatrist and de-addiction expert, In India, the street cost of smack is Rs.600 – 800 per gm. and that of heroin is Rs.1500 - 2000 per gm. Addicts regularly use 1 gm. to 3 gm. of smack or heroin per day52. Of late, the youths in border areas of Punjab reported to have shifted to taking heroin through injections as it is more effective and long lasting. However, among a wide variety of illicit drugs prevalent in different parts of the state include heroin, smack, opium, poppy husk, cannabis, prescription opioids, and psychotropic substances. HEROIN AND THE “GOLDEN CRESCENT” FACTOR

The increasing consumption of nacro-drugs, especially heroin, in Punjab is basically an off-shoot of the inflow of Afghan heroin through Pakistan. A by-product of the opium poppy, Heroin ‘H’ is a semi-synthetic drug derived from morphine” which is extracted from dried and purified opium. Morphine is “treated with Acetic Anhydried to make heroin”, which, in terms of its effect, is more powerful than the former53. It is observed that “the heroin is harvested from opium farms across Afghanistan and taken to factories in the remote Pamir mountains in the Badakhshan region, where it is turned into heroin”. According to Ahmed Rashid “the raw opium would be slapped into a cake and kept wet in plastic bags until the local drug dealer arrived. It would then be sent to makeshift laboratories in the mountains where, with the help of a few readily available precursor chemicals, the dark brown paste would be turned into a fine white powder - heroin. Ten kilograms of opium paste produces one kilogram of heroin”54.

The India-Pakistan border in Punjab tends to be an established route for trafficking heroin from Afghanistan. Out of the total inflow, some part of heroin is consumed in the state and the rest is transited through Punjab to other parts of the country including metro cities as well as to Europe, Canada, USA, Australia, Sri Lanka etc.

26 The trafficking rate is so high that heroin worth Rs.1000 crore was seized in a couple of months between January and mid-October 2012 by the BSF alone along the India – Pakistan border in Punjab. The major seizures by the BSF included: 14 kg. heroin on January 21, 2012; 13 kg. each on February 4 and 23; 22 kg. on March 19; 5 kg. on April 1; 7 kg. on August 18; 10 kg. on September 20; 4 kg. on October 4, 2012; and 4 kg. of heroin and weapons from two residents of a village in Amritsar on October 13, 2012. The senior police officers claimed that since January 2012, the BSF had seized 217 kg. of heroin and over Rs.46 lakh of fake Indian currency notes, besides arms and ammunition55. Some border villages of Punjab have also acted as passageway promoting inflow of heroin from across the border. On October 6, 2011, the BSF personnel seized 27 kg. heroin worth Rs.135 crore from Rajatal border village in Punjab. The BSF men also retrieved a bag of heroin stuck on the border fence at Rajatal village. Surprisingly, only two days before the event 15 kg. heroin was seized by the forces from the village56. Similarly, on October 24, 2011, 58 kg. of heroin worth Rs.290 crore was seized by a team of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) from a house in Hasta Kalan village near Pakistan border. The contraband was hidden beneath a heap of wheat straw lying in the courtyard of the house. The accused allegedly had ties with international narcotics mafia and was already booked under various sections dealing with steeling and dacoity57.

Comparatively, the seizures of narco-drugs, fake currency and illegal weapons (which are sold as “legitimate Indian weapons to buyers) along the Indo-Pak border tended to be much higher in Punjab than the other three border states i.e. Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and Gujarat. This may also be seen from the Table XI. In fact the seizure of narco drugs in the state is reported to be among the highest in India. According to the Special Director General of BSF, “the higher rate of smuggling along the Punjab border was due to the long established network and syndicates of smugglers and proximity of habitations and cultivated fields right

27 upto the Zero Line on both sides. This makes person-to-person contact relatively easier”58. Table XI Incidents and recovery by BSF along Indo-Pak Border (2009 to 2012 till May) Year Jammu & Punjab Rajasthan Gujarat Total Kashmir Narcotics (Kgs.) 2009 1 119 0 0 120 2010 0 110 0 2 112 2011 5 69 1 0 75 2012 0 157 24 0 181 Fake Currency (Lakh) 2009 3 64 0 0 67 2010 0 138 0 0 138 2011 0 42 3 0 45 2012 0 40 0 0 40 Weapons 2009 28 22 11 2 61 2010 4 4 5 0 13 2011 3 9 4 0 16 2012 0 12 0 0 12 Intruders Killed 2009 9 4 9 1 23 2010 7 5 2 0 14 2011 4 4 2 2 12 2012 2 11 0 0 13

Source: Vijay Mohan, “Spurt in smuggling activities along border in Punjab”, The Tribune, June 7, 2012. Since the state has become “a major transit route” for nacro-trade, thousands of local youths have fallen prey to illicit drugs. Consequently, the drug issue has often occupied centre stage of political discourse in the state. The Congress party has accused the ruling Akali Dal of failing

28 to check the illicit drug trade and smuggling of narco-drugs from across the border whereas the ruling Akali leaders have blamed the Congress- led Central Government for not taking adequate measures to stop the inflow of the Afghan heroin from Pakistan. The Chief Minister, S. Prakash Singh Badal, even appealed to the President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, during his visit to Punjab in 2013 “to curb smuggling of heroin to India via Pakistan”59. Notwithstanding the availability of adequate number of BSF personnel, border guards, police etc. and the system of barbed wire fencing through which high voltage electricity runs, the smuggling of nacro-drugs from Pakistan through the Punjab border has continued unabated. Illicit substances like the Afghan heroin have found its way into the state with rather increased quantity through a porous border. Photos show the Border Security Force Personnel patrolling along the Indo-Pak Border

Tightening the noose BSF Personnel, patrolling along Indo-Pak border

Anirudh Gupta, “Countering peddlers” Source: The Tribune, April 16 and December 31, 2012 and The Daily Post, January 3, 2014. The heroin and opium originating in Afghanistan and Pakistan frequently sneak into Punjab through various methods such as catapulting or throwing small packets of 1-3 kg. across the barbed wire fence, pushing the plastic pipes containing drugs through the fence,

29 flowing water of rivers, goods train ferrying cement into India from Pakistan via Attari-Wagha route, buses and trucks carrying goods including dry fruits. On September, 2013, an Indian truck after offloading plastic material in Pakistan brought in 2 kg. heroin hidden in a cavity. The three men on board with the contraband and two Pakistani Subscriber’s Identity Module (SIM) cards were arrested60. Recently, there were ten seizures of heroin on different dates from the wagons of goods train carrying cement bags from Pakistan. These seizures at the unloading point of cement bags at Attari included: 5 kg. of heroin hidden in a heap of cement bags in the goods train on June 2, 2012; 7 kg. on July 16, 2012; 3 kg. on August 3, 2012; 105 kg. on October 8, 2012; 23 kg. on October 20, 2012; 10 kg. on July 2, 2013; 22 kg. on December 3, 2013; 20 kg. on December 14, 2013; 12.810 kg. on February 11, 2014 and 10 kg. on February 25, 2014. The staff of the Rail Cargo Customs, while suspecting the officials of Pakistan felt “It is not possible to hide narcotics inside a goods wagon without the connivance of people responsible for loading the material in Pakistan”61. In like manner, doubts were also cast on the involvement of some Indian officials in smuggling of heroin in rail cargo from across the border. The dismissal and arrest of one Assistant Sub-Inspector and a porter in October 2012 in connection with the recovery of heroin from the goods train had also justified such doubts. Regarding this, a former Congress legislator even demanded a white paper on the police-drug mafia nexus in Punjab. Similarly, on May 29, 2013, one of the Akali legislators, while pointing out that the Pakistani smugglers after crossing the fence had always managed to run back to their country when an alert was sounded, alleged that rogue elements in the BSF as well as government agencies were involved in drug smuggling from across the barbed wire fence62. His allegations were also supported by couple of arrests in this connection. These arrests included a Deputy Commandant of BSF-first time for smuggling 23 kg. of heroin in 2005 and second time for 1 kg. of heroin in 2010; a BSF Constable for allegedly facilitating smuggling around 75 kg. of heroin in April 2011; a Superintendent (Central Excise and Customs) with 10 kg. of heroin and two BSF Constables and their accomplice with 19 kg. of heroin on October 1-2, 201363. The vices of corruption, connivance and malfunctioning tend to be the major factors

30 affecting the functionaries on both sides of the Indo-Pak border. How far the cargo scanner system, which is being installed at the Integrated Check Post (ICP) in Attari, would be able to deter and check smuggling is yet to be established. In addition to the modes of rail and road, the smuggling of contrabands from Pakistan is also undertaken through methods like “use of catapults to fling small packages of drugs over the fences” and passing it through plastic/steel/cement pipes inserted through the barbed wire fencing. Such techniques have been used by the traffickers in a frequent manner. The BSF Personnel have often seized drugs smuggled through such methods.

BSF men retrieve a bag of heroin stuck A pipe inserted through the barbed fencing by the on the border fence at Rajatal village. smugglers in the Ferozepur Sector.

Smugglers in Pakistan use catapults to fling drug packets across the border fence into Indian territory Source: The Tribune, October 7, 2011, April 19, 2013 and March 17, 2013.

31 It is reported that around 70 percent of the drugs passing through Punjab border have come through the barbed wire fence on the Khalra- Khemkaran route64. On June 16, 2012, the smugglers slithered down 17 packets of heroin (weighing a kg. each) worth Rs.85 crore along with four cartridges and one magazine “through a 10-foot-long plastic pipe through the barbed wire which had high voltage electricity running through it”. Similarly, on January 21, 2014, the BSF found 20 packets of heroin in a plastic pipe near the Pul Moran border outpost in Taran Tarn district. In addition, 16 kg. of heroin was seized near a border outpost in the Ferozepur district on the same day. Along with this 36 kg. contraband, two pistols, three magazines, 17 rounds of ammunition and one Pak mobile phone with SIM were also seized by the BSF65. The smugglers are also benefited by factors such as the wheat and paddy crops on the fields on either side of the border and foggy weather during winter. The Pakistan smugglers reported to have often left the consignment in the cultivated lands of Indian farmers across the fence. It is noticed that the traffickers have become more active during the months of December and January because of fog and then in March during the harvesting season. The smugglers or criminal gangs have also used local peddlers, couriers, addicts and other vulnerable people settled near the border to supply drugs to destined places, traders, conduits and clients or consumers. The unemployed disappointed youths belonging to border villages are also hired as couriers by the drug smugglers and their agents. The job fetches them quick money “ranging from Rs.25000 to Rs.40000 for a packet of heroin”. The couriers, as per BSF officials, “are generally unaware about the origin and final destination of the consignment due to which security agencies are not able to apprehend the kingpins behind the drug racket”66. Some farmers belonging to the villages near the border and owning land across the fence, have also been used by drug cartels for smuggling drugs from Pakistan. A farmer and former Sarpanch of a village panchayat in Ferozepur district was nabbed on June 21, 2012 by the Counter-Intelligence Wing of the Punjab police with 9 kg. of narcotics worth Rs.46 crore in the international market. The contraband was allegedly kept in a cavity created in the tractor to

32 trick the security personnel guarding the entry gates at the border. The Ex-Sarpanch “owned five acres of land across the international fence on the India side” for which he had an identity card allowing him to enter his fields for specific hours. According to the Inspector-General of Intelligence, the said Ex-Sarpanch had smuggled 150 kg. of heroin worth Rs.750 crores in international market from Pakistan during past some time67. In certain border villages drug trafficking has become a family business. On October 4, 2012, the BSF arrested seven heroin smugglers belonging to a border village; three of them being from the same family. The Punjab police reported to have prepared a list consisting of hundreds of peddlers from border villages. Traffickers on both sides of the border, reportedly, communicate through mobile phones using Pakistani SIM cards to circumvent any interception by Indian forces. Some smugglers from Pakistan reported to have procured land for agriculture along the border on the Pakistan’s side for purposes of trafficking contrabands into the Indian side where they have roped in marginal people from border villages to peddle it further. Besides the Punjab border, local peddlers have also obtained contrabands smuggled from Pakistan via the border areas of Rajasthan. The Punjab police recovered heroin from a trafficker worth Rs.32 crore in May 28, 2011. He belonged to a village in Tarn Taran district and the contraband was smuggled from Pakistan via the Hindumalkot border area. Similarly, a 32-year-old trafficker from the Hindumalkot town was arrested in Abohar on July 16, 2011 after recovering 3.5 kg. of heroin worth over Rs.15 crores from his possession68. The criminal gangs consisting of international and inter-state smugglers have made maximum use of local people from border areas and elsewhere to reap benefits of drug trade. COCAINE Apart from heroin, the upper and middle class people in the state have also started using other costly drugs like cocaine, methamphetamine, amphetamine etc. Cocaine is found in the leaves of coca bush “an evergreen native to South America, particularly the countries of Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile and Colombia69. The Punjab police and other state agencies have made intermittent seizures of cocaine from traffickers,

33 including the NRIs and foreign nationals. On June 11, 2003, Punjab Police and customs officials arrested a Kenyan and a Nigerian on charges of carrying cocaine/heroin worth Rs.1.5 crore70. Similarly, two Nigerians were arrested with cocaine on November 3, 2009. Besides, two Nigerians with 212 gms. of cocaine were arrested in Ludhiana on February 3, 2010 and a man from a village in was arrested in Ludhiana with 200 gms. of cocaine and 100 gms. of smack on April 13, 201071. On September 3, 2012, a Canadian national was held with 1.5 kg. of cocaine worth Rs.15 crore in international market72. His accomplice, a Punjab based NRI, managed to escape. The SSP Jalandhar claimed that “the duo had been running an international drug smuggling racket and used to smuggle heroin from India to Canada and cocaine vice versa”73. Moreover, the Jalandhar police arrested four persons belonging to different villages and recovered 1 kg. of cocaine from them on November 30, 2012. It was reported that the consignment had come from Columbia. Foreign nationals along with local accomplice have often managed to sneak in the costly contraband liked by youths representing the upper and middle class background. According to a student, “the rich are into stuff like cocaine, popularly known as coke or crack among us. Those who can’t afford to drugs tend to get on high by using cough syrups like corex and phensedryl”74. Among the foreign nationals arrested for drug smuggling in recent years included Nigerians, Kenyans, Canadians, Israelis, Czechs, Myamar etc. Similarly, some Punjab based NRIs have also been arrested for trafficking into the state contrabands like cocaine, hashish, amphetamine etc. and smuggling out narco drugs to Western countries. A Canada-based Punjabi had allegedly received supply of heroin through hired couriers who were Canadian citizens75. According to the Joint Director, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, a Canadian youth (22), who was arrested at the Amritsar international Airport with six kg. heroin, had disclosed that the owner of a night club (at Canada) where he worked had asked him to bring heroin from India to pay back his debt76. Another youth, a Canadian resident Punjabi (22) and his accomplice were arrested with 2.9 kg. heroin by the customs authorities working in tandem with the State’s SSOC on September 25, 2012. The youth was arrested when boarding the Jet Airways flight for Delhi at the Amritsar Airport. He was

34 scheduled to fly to Toronto from Delhi Airport77. The narco drugs flowing from across the border through rail, road, rivers, plastic pipes etc. for onward smuggling to other parts of the country, especially the metropolitan towns, and foreign lands have also widened their scope of consumption within the state as well. OPIUM AND CANNABIS Apart from the trans-border smuggling, drugs are also peddled into the state from the licit opium poppy growing areas of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Similarly, the peddling of opium and cannabis-charas from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir has taken place from time to time. In the close neighbourhood, cannabis, which is used in the form of Bhang, Ganja, Charas etc. and opium poppy are clandestinely cultivated in the isolated rough mountainous terrain of Himachal Pradesh. These are carried down to plains in Punjab and other states besides being smuggled out abroad. According to Molly Charles, “It is the presence of a global market for cannabis and poppy products which has encouraged the growth of drug cultivation and trade, especially in isolated pockets in the rough mountainous terrain of the state, where adequate development programmes are absent”78. Even foreigners, who had links with drug mafia, according to intelligence reports, have ventured into undertaking cultivation of cannabis and opium in a clandestine manner in the inaccessible higher reaches of the “Magic Valley” of Malana in the Kullu district. In 2010, the Additional Director General Police, Himachal Pradesh, said that the police had intelligence report about the involvement of foreigners79. According to police records, as highlighted in the press, around 200 foreign nationals were arrested under the NDPS Act during the last 10 years till 2010 in the Kullu district alone. The foreigners, who were arrested, convicted and blacklisted in 2012 for possessing, buying and selling charas etc., included persons from Italy, England, France, Germany, Israel, Russia, Japan, USA, Canada, Finland, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Yemen, Iraq and Thailand. Bulk of them, however, comprised of Italian, Israeli, French and British nationals.

35 Recently, the Himachal police availed of some funds and services of people under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) for destroying cannabis, but it hardly received any encouraging response from village panchayats, which execute the MNREGA Scheme. “Villagers consider cannabis plants sacred and use its seed and byproducts for traditional Puja”80. In fact, “charas is offered in the Shiva temples by devotees and consumed as a gift from the lord81. Since lakhs of domestic and foreign tourists flock to Kullu every year and many of them get attracted towards charas, also known as “shiva booty”, it has emerged as a main source of livelihood for several families in the rural areas of the higher mountainous belt. Similarly, it has benefited the owners of restaurants, cafes, hotels in towns and cities. Gains through trafficking of charas are substantial. Mention may be made here that “the hybrid varieties of cannabis grown in Kullu are the main source of high-grade Charas like “Malana cream”, which is liked in foreign countries82. Those who are involved in illegal drug trade are using various methods like parcels and couriers to send charas and opium out of the state. A parcel emanating from Dharamsala containing 1 kilo of charas, smuggled out by concealing in a Buddha head, was seized at the London airport83. The illegal plantation of cannabis is reportedly done in certain parts of districts like Kullu, Mandi, Chamba etc. According to press reports, the producers have also engaged Nepali labourers in the cultivation of Kullu source of high-grade charas derived from cannabis, cannabis. It is The Indian Express, July 8, 2011 reported that “of the total 17,495 villages in Himachal Pradesh, at least 865 are engaged in the illegal charas and opium cultivation”84. Some

36 villages are known for drug peddling activities. A village which lies in Himachal Pradesh but surrounded by villages of district of Punjab was known for selling drugs in the entire region85. The narco drug smugglers of Punjab have engaged low income group local youths and women for trafficking of charas extracted from cannabis86. Of late, the state of Himachal has become active to wean away people from the narco business and consequently efforts have been made to bring into the mainstream the people of Malana, known for its “world class charas” or illegal cultivation of high quality cannabis. Similar efforts have been made to convince people of “Chuhar Valley” in Mandi district, known more for opium trafficking87. However, since the cannabis and opium poppy have emerged as a big source of income in the remote areas, their illegal cultivation, in spite of eradication campaign, is yet to end. Some people during the last assembly polls rather demanded that cultivation of cannabis should be made legal. Charas fetches good money. The modes and means to market the produce within and outside the state have multiplied. Though there has been no systematic state level study, yet the scope of illicit drugs within the state has widened with the increasing number of users in towns and cities. A sample survey conducted by an NGO (Youth Enlightening the Society- YES) on 2000 students, out of the 10,000 studying in Shimla, revealed that 54.74 per cent of the boys and 24.16 percent girls were using drugs or other intoxicants88. Apart from this, a study by the Himachal Pradesh Voluntary Health Association on consumption of tobacco and its products among school children up to age of 17 years revealed that 50 percent children were into drugs89. On 28 July, 2012, the state’s Director General of Police (DGP), while saying that narcotics was the only organized crime in Himachal Pradesh, asserted that checking the cultivation of cannabis and opium in Kullu-Mandi and other parts of the state would be his top priority90. Like Himachal Pradesh, the illegal cultivation of cannabis and opium poppy takes place in certain mountainous areas of the state of Jammu and Kashmir too. The illegal plantation is done mainly in the far-flung areas of certain districts of the Kashmir Valley and Jammu region.

37 According to a police officer, “in Anantnag district alone, cannabis was being cultivated on 4,510 kanals and one could gauge the situation in other parts of the state”91. Punjab being a neighbouring state cannot escape from the opium products in Jammu and Kashmir. As per the SP of Awantipur, as much as 30 sacks of opium and poppy husk were being smuggled in a Punjab bound truck carrying fruits to Punjab. The driver belonged to Patiala and told the police of Awantipur in South Kashmir that the contraband was meant for dealers in Batala92. Moreover, on February 9, 2014, 72 kg. of poppy husk was seized by the Hoshiarpur police from two persons, “both residents of Baramula”. They had, reportedly, brought the contraband from Pulwama in Kashmir. The products of cannabis and poppy have also affected the local youths in Jammu and Kashmir. Further, the intermittent trickling of nacro-drugs from across the border (Pakistan) has emerged as another input. On January 17, 2014, the Jammu and Kashmir police recovered 114 kg. of brown sugar that was smuggled from POK in a Pakistani truck through the cross-LOC trade. The drug haul was suspected to be part of an international drug racket. These drugs were to be unloaded in Amritsar. The two arrested traders, “to whom the consignment was heading in Kashmir, …. confessed that they had made similar transactions in the past” (see, Mir Ehsan, in The Indian Express, February 6, 2014). Consequently, pernicious drug addiction among youth in Kashmir has also increased over the years. According to the DIG of the Central Kashmir range, “there are around 2 lakh drug addicts in the Kashmir valley”93. Vice-versa, the peddlers from Punjab have also sold synthetic drugs to people in the state, especially in the Jammu region. Apart from the mountainous belt of Himachal and J&K, the bulk of poppy husk and opium are trafficked into Punjab from Rajasthan via districts like Bathinda, Faridkot, Mukatsar, Fazilka, Mansa, Sangrur and Patiala. Halting the supply of narco-drugs from Rajasthan and far flung areas of Madhya Pradesh through Haryana via the aforesaid districts of Punjab has, in fact, become difficult as the traffickers of various shades like inter-state gangs of smugglers, couriers, peddlers, small time sellers etc change their modes, routes, time, strategies and methods in

38 accordance with the situation to dodge the state police. Keeping in view the massive inflow of narco drugs into Punjab, the cops from Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan have joined hands to tackle the problem and “identified drug routes stretching from Rajasthan to Punjab and Haryana via certain villages on the Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan border”. According to police, in the year 2012 (upto September 11) drugs worth Rs.225 crore including 7 kg. smack, 45 kg. heroin, 225 kg. opium and 40,000 kg. poppy husk were seized in the Bathinda zone alone94. The above discussion makes it evident that the money and material driven drug trade has held the state hostage. The Punjab police force is yet to prove whether it can take on the drug mafia and break into its supply network erected over a couple of decades. The inter-state drug dealers are benefited from “a good paying capacity” of the people in Punjab. The contrabands are trafficked into the State from different states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh through trucks, taxis, cars, motorbikes, buses, rail, air, bicycles, animals and on foot. The smugglers invent new methods and means of hiding contrabands in vehicles (trucks etc.) to outwit the police and counter intelligence officials. As much as 35 ways of stuffing illicit drugs in a vehicle have been noticed by the Punjab police. The place of hiding illicit substances in trucks included tool box, fuel tank, tyres, engine, chassis, seats, steering wheel, gear box, roof, doors besides creating cabinets, false floor, compartment culvert etc.95. Interestingly, if some illicit drugs are smuggled in small quantities in kilos and grams, some like poppy husk are often ferried in quintals at a time in trucks, mini-trucks and cars. I collected information from various sources regarding cases of poppy husk seized in quintals by the state police in recent years. It may be illustrated by cases such as: 1.11 quintals of poppy husk seized by the Nakodar police from a lady from Nakodar town in 2009; 1.9 quintals seized by Ferozepur police in October 2009; 3.50 quintals by the Bagha Purana police from a man from in 2009; 1.75 quintals by Bagha Purana police from a man from Rajasthan in 2009; 1.25 quintals by Ludhiana police in

39 2009; 1.5 quintals by Nakodar police from a man from UP in 2010; 18.50 quintals by Barnala police from two persons from in 2010; 35 quintals by Nakodar police from two persons (one from Moga and another from the Gorakhpur district of UP) in August 2010; 8.10 quintals by the Phillaur police from a man from Phillaur in August 2010; 8.0 quintals in 2010 by the Bagha Purana police from a man from Muktsar district; 1.20 quintals by Ludhiana police in 2010; 34.0 quintals by the Narcotic Control Bureau from a truck that brought the consignment from Indore to Jalandhar in 201196; 4.18 quintals from two persons belonging to rural areas in on May 2, 2012; 1.0 quintal by Chandigarh police on August 17, 2012 from a man from Kurali () who brought the poppy husk from Uttrakhand97; 2 quintals by Patiala police from two persons from Fatehgarh Sahib and Bakshiwal village on August 26, 201298; 16.45 quintals by Mehatpur police (Nakodar) from four persons belonging to different villages in Jalandhar district on August 18, 201299; 30 quintals by the Jalandhar police from two persons from villages falling in the Nawanshar district on August 27, 2012100; 3 quintals of poppy husk and 30 kg. opium seized on August 27, 2012 by Jalandhar police from a man (32) and a woman (35) from Jharkhand who had revealed that they were sent by the owner of an auto spare parts manufacturing unit at Jamshedpur with the assurance that they would be paid Rs. 20,000 for delivering to his clients in Bhogpur101; 19 quintals by the Counter Intelligence Wing of Bathinda police from three men from villages of the Sangrur district on October 8, 2012102; 10 quintals by the Ropar Police on October 16, 2012 from two traffickers belonging to villages in Ropar and Khanna; 40.25 quintals by the Jalandhar police on October 27, 2012 from a gang of five smugglers from different villages falling in districts of Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Ferozepur who had brought the consignment from a person from Kishangarh in Rajasthan103; 104 kg. by the CIA Sangrur from two persons from villages belonging to Sangrur district in March 2013; 130 kg. by the Banur police from a person belonging to Balachaur town on April 11, 2013; and 5.5 tons by the Counter Intelligence Wing (Punjab Police) on April 10, 2013 from two smugglers from Tarn Taran who had

40 returned to the crime after spending ten years in jail and brought the contraband from Kishangarh in Rajasthan. As recent as on 2nd June, 2013, the Ferozepur police seized 50 quintals of poppy husk being smuggled from Rajasthan in a truck. The truck driver, a resident of Jalandhar, and his assistant from Zira were arrested. Besides this, on June 16, 2013, Ludhiana police had recovered 19 quintals of poppy husk from two persons belonging to ; one of them was facing trial in six more cases of peddling. The contraband was smuggled from Madhya Pradesh in a truck by hiding it under the sacks of cattle feed. Likewise, 210 kg. of poppy husk was seized by the Ghagga police () from three persons, including a woman, on July 21, 2013; 2 quintals by the Banur police from a truck coming from Rajasthan on September 26, 2013; several quintals by the Mansa police in October 2013; 1300 kg. by the Hoshiarpur police from three local smugglers on February 9, 2014; and 28.80 quintal by the Patiala police from two persons on May 4, 2014104. Drug trafficking is quite tempting as the smugglers fetch 2-3 times more price in Punjab for the illicit nacro substances they manage to sneak in the state. The Sangrur police during the course of interrogating two traffickers of Punjab, who brought 15 kg. opium from Madhya Pradesh, discovered that they had bought the consignment at a price of Rs. 20,000 per kg. to sell in Ludhiana at a rate of Rs. 50,000 per kg.105. Similarly, the Superintendent of Police (Patiala), while referring to another two traffickers arrested with 30 kg. opium bought from Rajasthan, said that the recovered opium might be around Rs. 9 lakh in Rajasthan but it could fetch Rs. 25 to 28 lakh in Punjab106. Thus, a successive trip of opium, called as black gold, from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan generates record profit to drug dealers, couriers and carriers. Trafficking of opium into Punjab from far off places is not infrequent. A trafficker from Rajasthan, who had been smuggling opium from Bhilwara on a motorbike for a couple of years, was arrested with five kilograms of opium milk near Nandgarh (Bathinda district) on September 27, 2012107. Similarly, the police seized 20 kg. of opium from the possession of four persons of Bhilwara district in Rajasthan in

41 October, 2012. Earlier in October 2009, a person from the Ujjain district was awarded 10 years imprisonment for smuggling 11 kg. opium from Madhya Pradesh. Recently on June 27, 2013, the Muktsar police arrested a narcotic smuggler along with his son and one more person with 25.5 kg. of opium wrapped in two packets from “the gas tank of the car fixed with a sealant”. They were residents of Bundi district in Rajasthan. Mention may be made here that the kingpin was earlier arrested in 2002 with 15 kg. of opium and was jailed for five and a half years. Again he was arrested in 2009 with 13 kg. of opium. He was on parole but failed to return to jail. Likewise, another peddler, who jumped parole in a drug smuggling case, was arrested on July 17, 2013 with 17.5 kg. of opium while travelling in a car on the Bathinda – Dabwali road. His brother too had jumped parole. Virtually, his entire family was involved in drug smuggling and had been booked in several cases in Rajasthan and Punjab. On September 7, 2013, two peddlers were arrested with 20.5 kg. of opium by the Mohali police. One of them was 35 years old and belonged to a village in Chittorgarh district and another 36 year-old to a village in Udaipur district in Rajasthan. The kingpin, a leader of the inter-state gang and owner of a hotel in Chittorgarh, was sent a non-bailable arrest warrant alongwith police team to arrest him. According to the IG of Police, Counter Intelligence Wing, “many families in this trade continued the illegal activity despite being caught several times as they made a lot of money”108. The illicit drug trade is too alluring to pull out and return to normal activities. Moreover, the peddlers hardly find any potential alternative. The factors of arrest and detention rarely deter and discourage drug traffickers. In the year 2011, in Patiala alone the police had arrested 310 persons for trying to smuggle or sell contrabands in the city and its surroundings. Similarly, the Jalandhar police, in a major crackdown on peddlers, had arrested as many as 337 suspects and seized narcotics from their possession109. More than that, the Ferozepur police reported to have arrested 77 drug traffickers and lodged 65 cases under the NDPS Act within five days in September, 2013. The State government had intensified drive against drug traffickers which, among others, also

42 led to overcrowding of jails in Punjab. “As per recent figures (2013), 26 Punjab jails house 2429 male and 86 female convicts under the NDPS Act while 4283 male and 203 female under trial are also held under the same110. In several cases, it was not for the first time that they were charged by the police with pushing drugs and possessing contrabands. Since the bulk of opium and poppy husk enters into Punjab via the areas bordering Haryana and Rajasthan, the consumption of these substances tends to be relatively higher in the adjoining districts of the Malwa belt like Patiala, Sangrur, Moga, Mansa, Bathinda, Mukatsar, Faridkot, Fazilka etc. The drug addicts from Punjab often cross over to Rajasthan to fetch poppy husk sold at licenced vends located at a short distance in the neighbouring districts like Hanumangarh. The contraband costs more than double in Punjab. On the other hand, in the districts bordering Pakistan the prevalence of heroin, charas and smack seemed to be comparatively higher. Since the border districts of Ferozepur, Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Gurdaspur have witnessed the highest seizures of heroin, the contraband has steadily covered a considerable space and created clientele among the upper, middle and lower middle class people of these districts. The adjoining NRI dominated Doaba belt too, has crossed the threshold in this regard. Consequently, the consumption and smuggling of heroin and psychotropic substances has become considerable in almost all the four districts of the Doaba region. Likewise, in the big cities of the state viz Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala, Ludhiana, Moga, Bathinda and Ferozepur, the costly drugs like heroin, cocaine, ice and ATS have gained ground and attracted people of various classes. With the increasing pace of urbanization, the consumption of opioids and pharmaceutical drugs has gone up in the state. The proportion of urban population in the total population of Punjab has increased from 33.9 percent in 2001 to 37.5 percent in 2011. The youth in slums use intoxicant tablets, cough syrups, poppy husk etc. whereas the upper and middle class youth largely prefer heroin, smack, charas, cocaine, ice, ATS etc. Mention may be made here that the seizures of nacro-drugs in the State over the years have been substantial. The number of cases registered

43 under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and the quantity of different drugs seized by government agencies in a period of 10 years may further be seen from the table as under. Table XII Yearwise cases registered and recoveries under the NDPS Act for the Calendar Year 2002 to 2012 (upto 30.09)

Year Cases Charas Bhang in Opium Poppy Husk Heroin Smack in Cocaine registered in Kgs. Kgs. in Kgs. in Kgs. in Kgs. Kgs. in Kgs. NDPS Act

2002 3405 66.065 491.900 605.026 142196.930 2.320 13.024 -

2003 3545 94.355 359.600 385.841 120992.204 9.802 18.974 -

2004 3226 74.498 8.565 383.966 159644.435 5.380 22.785 -

2005 4464 67.683 336.600 450.581 135883.295 39.680 23.776 -

2006 4861 98.716 126.500 520.138 89140.215 53.885 33.331 -

2007 6111 98.076 494.220 500.198 89408.796 134.928 31.860 -

2008 5056 106.521 66.920 563.029 60092.263 269.044 55.496 -

2009 4421 98.673 1367.900 689.177 62659.670 155.506 44.764 -

2010 5508 130.702 186.215 754.472 82215.436 188.056 43.216 1.785

2011 5464 210.407 5.150 863.080 75786.145 100.924 26.361 0.423

2012 (upto 7788 98.115 691.360 884.050 117893.894 278.00 30.784 1.500 30.09.12)

Comparatively, the recovery of contrabands like heroin, smack and opium has gone up over the years in the state. As a matter of fact, the seizure of heroin has witnessed a surge of 275.68 kg. up from 2.32 kg. in 2002 to 278.00 kg. in 2012. In 2013, the BSF reported to have seized as much as 322 kg. heroin worth Rs.1610 crore in the international market111. The use of heroin has become a statewide complication on account of the frequent inflow of the contraband from across the border. It can be attributed, as mentioned earlier, to the state’s proximity to the “Golden Crescent” (Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran), particularly Afghanistan where production of illicit opium and heroin is concentrated. On August 4, 2012, the Director General of Punjab (DGP) said that out of the 500 kg. of heroin seized in India annually, “175 kg.

44 was recovered in Punjab alone”. A part of it is consumed in the state whereas the bulk reaches to the other states of the country and the global destinations in Europe, Canada and North America. THE PSYCHOTROPIC SUBSTANCES AND PHARMACEUTICAL DRUGS Harmful psychotropic substances like Amphetamine - type stimulants (ATS i.e. Amphetamine, Methamphetamine and the ecstasy group) have also started attracting the youth in rave parties, clubs, hotels etc. Seizures of such contrabands have been made in Punjab for couple of times. Besides this, laboratories manufacturing Methamphetamine etc. have been dismantled at some places in the state. In terms of origins, “methamphetamine was first synthesized and consumed in Japan in the late nineteenth century, with manufacture and consumption later spreading to North America, Canada, Mexico, Europe and East and South-East Asia. “Amphetamine, on the other hand, has long been illicitly manufactured and consumed in Europe. Some illicit manufacture of methcathinone also existed in the Russian Federation and the United States”112. Gradually, the use and manufacture of ATS became dispersed and acquired universal significance. In the case of Punjab, the counter intelligence staff seized ATS drugs from three persons, including an NRI, at two different places near Jalandhar on January 1, 2010. It was reported that the consignment (18 kg. of Methamphetamine) was to be sent to a narcotic smuggler residing in Canada. The NRI in question was also arrested by the Mumbai police two years ago and was on bail113. Earlier on March 18, 2008, the DRI personnel arrested a Punjabi, resident of British Columbia, and recovered 232.237 kg. of ephedrine used as raw material for making methamphetamine. Moreover, on January 4, 2010, the Counter Intelligence officers seized a synthetic drug manufacturing unit in a village in Fatehgarh Sahib. The unit was fitted with equipment imported from Canada. Around 18 kg. of methamphetamine was also recovered from the unit. In addition, the intelligence wing seized fisher scientific fine chemicals, chemical Alfa, automatic ice flakes, sodium hydroxide, fisher scientific (Methanol), sulphuric acid, laboratory tools, face masks, body kits and various types of heaters114. Again in January 2010, the

45 police recovered 2.72 kg. of methamphetamine from an old court area of Ludhiana. Above all, on June 1, 2012, the state police busted a drug ring involving some NRIs and ‘well qualified’ traffickers and seized synthetic drugs worth Rs.200 crores. The police claimed to have recovered 34.5 kg. methamphetamine and 19 kg. ephedrine, also known as “ice” (reported to be crystal form of Methamphetamine) or “rave” party drug. Ephedrine is a precursor chemical used by pharmaceutical companies. These drugs were being manufactured in Punjab as well as in Delhi115. According to Police, they had set up laboratory in a farm house near Samrala to manufacture “Ice” with the help of various chemicals – ephedrine, acetone, sodium hydroxide, sulphuric acid, toluene etc. The IG of Punjab police said that the gang had engaged members including “IT professionals and experts in chemical engineering to business graduates and financial experts. Since synthetic drugs are new to India, they roped in foreigners who had expertise in setting up a lab and had the requisite training in manufacturing the drug116. The manufacturer had used a well-oiled network to supply “Ice” to revellers across the country in Metropolitan cities as well as abroad. In 2013, the precursor chemicals used for manufacturing costly drugs like “ice” were recovered in Mohali, and other places in the state. According to the police and Narcotic Bureau, party drugs, being made locally were the latest entrants in the market. “Chemicals like ketamine, used for general anaesthesia, and metaphenine is being used for popular drugs at rave parties such as ecstasy”117. In April and May 2013, the police recovered substances like narcotic powder used in making heroin and ice from a native of Raikot in Ludhiana; Ice and pseudoephedrine from a house in Sangrur; and sedative powder from some persons in Dirba and Zirakpur. Apart from this, the recovery of 105 kg. of mescaline produced by a particular type of cactus (peyote) from the possession of a women and her relatives near the Urban Estate Patiala, indicated that alternative drugs were making their way into the state in a big way118. Moreover, bio- pharmaceutical units in Baddi (Himachal Pradesh) were found manufacturing illicit drugs worth crores in 2012-13. For example, on 15th November, 2013, 600 kg. of ephedrine, pseudoephedrine and other precursor chemicals were recovered by the Patiala police from a

46 pharma unit owned by an Amritsar businessman. The owner was already arrested allegedly with synthetic drugs worth Rs.5.8 crore on November 14, 2013. The aforesaid precursors were diverted from the medicine sector to illegal manufacturing of synthetic drug “ICE” (“the crystal form of methamphetamine”)119. Procuring these precursors from licit sector and converting them into illicit synthetic drugs has emerged as a big business over the years. Above all, with the recovery of precursor chemicals by the Punjab police from March 2013 onwards, it was claimed that it had exposed a multi- crore synthetic drug racket (of Rs.6000 crore) spanning across several states. At the initial stages, the racket was unearthed by the arrest of an alleged druglord – NRI by the Fatehgarh Sahib police which seized 26 kg. drugs worth Rs.130 crore from his house. Subsequently, the alleged mastermind of the racket, an Arjuna award winner former wrestler and dismissed Punjab police officer, who evaded arrest since March 2013, was arrested with four associates by the Banur police team at Ghanaur (Haryana) with synthetic drug (ICE) and precursor chemicals on November 11, 2013. It was followed by more arrests of people involved in the drug racket; some being closely connected with power politics and pharmaceutical enterprises and illicit drug trade. In addition to political linkages, the group maintained a trans-national network of supply of the manufactured synthetic drugs to markets in the west as well as in the country’s neighbourhood. Moreover, it was revealed that they had involved foreign experts from China, Vietnam etc. to manufacture the psychotropic drugs for high parties and upper crusts. The linkages of the drug racket were widespread connecting it with the NRIs, sportsmen, power politics, hoteliers, pharma factory owners, police, singers, trans-national smugglers, chemical technologists etc. It was similar to the drug racket which was uncovered by the police in June 2012 at a farm house in Samrala where ICE was being manufactured in a laboratory set up for the purpose. The Punjab police have put “the worth of the international racket busted thus far at $ 300 million in the international market”120. Their access to the raw material chemicals used in the preparation of stimulant drugs has exposed the pharmaceutical units, medical shops, licit drug dealers, licencing

47 authorities and police. These rackets have added a new dimension to the illicit drug use in Punjab indicating about the manufacturing of a considerable amount of psychotropic substances within the state. In brief, the emerging trend over the years shows that in addition to the nacro drugs and “euphoriant cocaine” etc., stimulant drugs such as amphetamine, methamphetamine “ICE” and Ecstasy group are steadily spreading their tentacles among the youths in the state. Apart from ICE and Amphetamine type substances, the prevalence of other habit forming pharmaceutical drugs has also increased fast in Punjab on account of easy availability and the cost factor. There are thousands of retail chemist shops in the urban and rural areas of Punjab. Inspite of provisions of stringent action and ban on the habit forming drugs, there is hardly any cessation of sales in the absence of strict implementation of rules. The schedule ‘H’ drugs have remained available without prescription. The instructions issued by the authorities for the maintenance of records of the sale of habit-forming drugs (like Alprazolam-alprex, lomotil, dextropropoxyphene, buprenorphine, nitrazepam, pentezocine injections, codeine, diazepam, microlite tablets, etc.) had rather evoked protests from chemists who termed it as unnecessary harassment by the state machinery. The “Punjab Chemist Association (PCA)”, claiming enrolment of 35,000 chemists, had condemned the move and gave an ultimatum to the State Government to withdraw the instructions121. The chemists were asked to maintain a stock register and a sale register containing the details of daily sale including the opening stock, sale during the day, stock at the end of the day and the details of the persons to whom the sale had been made. They were also asked to submit a monthly report regarding the sale and purchase of the scheduled HX drugs to the drug department but the Chemist Association declined to abide by the decision as it would harass the pharmacists122. Similar instructions were earlier issued by the Union Government to all chemists which had evoked widespread protests by the chemists. In 2011, the All India Chemists Association had protested the Union Health Ministry’s proposal to introduce stricter norms for sale of Schedule ‘H’ drugs.

48 However, frequent raids have been conducted by the drug officials in Punjab during which drugs worth lakhs of rupees were recovered from the medical stores in the different districts. To illustrate it further, a team of drug inspectors, led by the state drug controller, seized habit- forming drugs worth Rs.60 lakh from an unlicensed godown in Ludhiana on January 3, 2011123. In 2011, a total of 549 chemists were raided and drugs worth Rs.2.30 crore were seized besides canceling licences of 114 chemists124. Similarly, drugs like rexcon cough syrup (19,823 bottles), capsules of pandol (10,300 capsules), tablets of Richdol-p (7,400 tablets) etc. costing Rs. 15.3 lakh were seized and confiscated by the officials of health department during raids at Bhabat, Zirakpur and Mubarkpur towns on April 27, 2012125. Astonishingly, psychotropic drugs worth Rs.76 lakh were seized from the unlicenced godowns owned by the same person in Ludhiana in January 2011126. Earlier, drugs worth Rs. 2.5 lakh including 22 boxes of injections, with each box containing 10,000 oxytoxin injection, 17,000 tablets of lomotil, 32,000 microlite, 10,000 alprex (alprazolam) and large amounts of parvon-spasm capsules were seized from chemist shops at Rajpura in a raid by the Health Department officials in 2010127. At one of the medical stores, the raids by drug officials also led to clashes between the raiding team and the store owners. More recently, in a special drive to check the sale of habit-forming drugs, the state police arrested three chemists and seized more than six-lakh tablets, 52000 proxyvon capsules, 2000 bottles of syrup and 10000 injections in 12 towns of the state on 29th August, 2013. Similarly, on September 18, 2013, the Ludhiana city police seized habit forming drugs worth over 1.5 crore and booked three medical store owners. This apart, the police nabbed a “key player in the habit forming drug network in the state” and received drugs worth Rs.10 crore from his factory, godowns and shops128. As the consumption of habit forming drugs has acquired threatening proportions, it has aroused resentment by the local people against a section of chemists allegedly promoting the malice. The “Doctors Federation of India”, village panchayats, Bharatiya Kisan Union and the affected families have often raised voice against the drug mafia and those selling habit- forming drugs containing narcotics or psychotropic substances as ingredients. In certain areas even the kiryana shops and roadside

49 Dhabas reported to have sold pharmaceutical drugs without prescription. Interestingly, while expressing anguish against the raids and booking under the NDPS Act, the chemists in March 2013 decided not to buy and sell drugs containing salts like dextropropoxyphene, buperinorphine, codeine, diazepam etc. Besides the cost factor, the consumption of habit forming pharmaceutical substances has also increased on account of the strict measures and concerted drive by the state government against the supply of traditional plant based narcotic drugs from outside the state. Earlier, the peddlers used to be caught with the plant based nacro drugs but, of late, the seizures of pharmaceutical substances have become substantial among the illicit drugs recovered by the Punjab police. For example, the Ferozepur police, which nabbed 478 drug peddlers in 2012, had seized 46.28 kg. of heroin, 56.2 kg. of opium, 7034 kg. of poppy husk, 690 gms. of smack and over 6 lakh intoxicating tablets and injections. Similarly, the Patiala police, which arrested 394 drug peddlers in a period of five months in the second half of the year 2012, had “seized 45 kg. opium, 1,132.600 kg. poppy husk, 2.44 kg. smack, 1,97,930 tables, 10,818 capsules, 682 injections, 568 bottles of syrup and 26.56 kg. narcotic powder”. Above all, the Banur police (Patiala district) seized about two lakh lomotil tablets and three lakh proxyvon, spasmoproxyvon and other intoxicating capsules by intercepting a truck loaded with fruits on July 1, 2013129. Since the farmers organizations have often expressed concern on the growing use of intoxicating pharmaceuticals in Punjab, the Chairman of a faction of the BKU on December 13, 2012 emphasized that the state government should not allow chemist shops in urban and rural areas without qualified doctors. On the basis of recent revelations made by the accused arrested in various drug rackets perpetrating criminal acts of smuggling and manufacturing of party drugs like ICE, the Health Department has become active in tapping the source of raw material or salts used in making the costly psychotropic substances in the state. Regarding this, the licences of over 450 chemists were suspended and more were being brought under the net in 2013. The department also identified six habit forming drugs for a special watch like diapheoxelate,

50 dextropropoxtphene, codeine, buprenorphine, pentazupen and nitrazepam130. In brief, the above analysis shows that the synthetic drugs have emerged as a serious threat to the younger generation in the state of Punjab. These drugs are procured through peddlers, couriers, chemists, peers etc. Pharmaceutical drugs seized under the NDPS Act

Though Kazikot has no chemist shop, youth in the village manage to procure the drugs they need to get their high. Source: The Tribune, August 31, 2013 Source: The Indian Express, October 21, 2012

THE LIQUOR BOOM The liquor, “a gateway drug” and nacro drugs are complementary and supplementary to each other. The authorities are required to regulate and restrict the sale and consumption of alcohol in the state to tackle the drug menace. Alcohol has done no less harm than narco drugs. In fact, it has shattered and spoiled lots of youth and families in the state. Besides causing health hazards and economic loss, excessive consumption of liquor has also promoted crimes like domestic violence, ruckus, rape, murder etc. A large number of road accidents are also attributed to alcohol. Some alcoholics being multiple substance abusers have often used narco drugs like bhukki, cannabis, charas and opioid substances. However, in terms of quantity, the consumption of liquor, notwithstanding the growing use of natural and synthetic drugs in the state, has shown a marked increase over the years. The state governments, instead of restraining, have allowed proliferation of liquor vends to enhance the excise revenue. Consequently, the income from

51 liquor has become a big source of revenue after VAT. People dealing in liquor have drawn maximum benefits. A part of the welfare and subsidy money has also drifted to the liquor trade as some recipient beneficiaries too, have not lagged behind in approaching the nearest liquor vends in towns or villages. To all intents and purposes, liquor trade is flourishing at the cost of the socio-economic well-being of the people, especially the younger generation. Thousands of families across all classes or groups, including the rich, middle, marginal and poverty- stricken people, have faced the wrath of alcohol. No matter what, the state has reaped the enhanced revenue as clearly revealed in Table-XIII. Table XIII Actual State Excise Revenue in Punjab (in Crores) and its percentage out of the taxes levied by the State Government 2001- 02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12

1350.06 1431.31 1462.79 1486.61 1568.16 1367.78 1861.52 1809.95 2100.92 2373.08 2755.00

28.08% 25.06% 23.78% 21.40% 17.44% 15.16% 18.79% 16.22% 17.44% 14.10% 14.62% Source: Punjab Budget at a Glance (of different years), Department of Finance, Govt. of Punjab. In the year 2001-02, the collection of state excise revenue was Rs.1350.06 crore which had increased to Rs.2755 crore in 2011-12. More than that, for the financial year 2013-14, the state expected a whopping revenue collection of over Rs.4000 crore from the auction of liquor vends, held on March 22, 2013. It was around Rs.2373.08 crore in 2010-11. This apart, the consumption of liquor bottles in the state in 2012-13 was reported to be around 30 crore. A population of 2,77,04,236 people consuming 30 crore bottles sounds like a high rate. The number of liquor vends reported to have increased from 5652 in 2005-06 to 7256 (5064 for PML and 2192 IMFL) in 2011. The production of liquor is no less striking in the state. As per reports, there are 21 bottling plants and two brewery units in Punjab. In 2005-06, the state had only eight distilleries131. The authorities need to arrest the sale and consumption of liquor lest it damages too much. Of late, a ferment has emerged against the opening of liquor vends in the villages which is likely to accelerate further if the growing discontent is not addressed properly by authorities. In certain districts like Sangrur dozen of village Panchayats had passed resolutions against the opening of liquor vends in their area in 2013. However, to the dismay of these village

52 panchayats, 27 resolutions were rejected by the excise authorities on the ground that liquor vends might not be closed if there had been sale of any illicit liquor in the area. Amazingly, the number of vends in the Sangrur district had increased from 654 in 2012-13 to 719 in 2013-14132. What a paradox! The elected village Panchayats had resolved to become liquor-free but it was thwarted by authorities on the one pretext or another. A group of village Panchayats also sought powers through amendment of Section 40 of the Act to prevent the Excise Department from giving licences for opening of liquor vends in their respective villages but to no avail. They blamed the liquor lobby and the Excise Department for scrapping their resolve. Luring people to drink is woeful. The consumption of liquor and illicit drugs has deflected the gains of development in the state in a considerable manner. It will be difficult for the state to achieve progress with lots of youths hooked on to drugs and alcohol. USE OF ILLICIT DRUGS AND LIQUOR DURING ELECTIONS AND THE HARVESTING SEASON IN PUNJAB Interestingly, the consumption of illicit drugs and alcohol has increased in Punjab in the wake of events like elections and the harvesting season of wheat and transplantation of paddy. The motives of fetching more votes and extracting maximum work from the farm labourers could be the probable factors. Most of the contesting candidates during elections swim with the current to allure voters to achieve victory. In 2012, the excise department had a windfall earning as much as Rs.38 lakh in penalty due to the Election Commission’s strict check on the smuggling and distribution of liquor in the run up to the Assembly Polls on January 30, 2012. Moreover, the enforcement authorities had seized 6,97,106 bottles of liquor, 31,947 litres of illicit country made liquor, 2,27,588 kg. of lahan (local liquor), 99 kg. of opium, 18 kg. of sedative powder, 23.05 kg. of heroin, 3.793 kg. of smack, 88,296 banned capsules, 9,52,675 psychotropic tablets and 4,362 bottles of codeine based cough syrup133. The recovery of drugs and liquor was achieved under the strict-control of the election authorities. A campaign against the use of illicit drugs and liquor during the assembly polls was also launched by a Supreme Court lawyer in association with some NGOs in the state. They had

53 warned the candidates against luring votes with drugs and alcohol. Even children had held rallies in certain constituencies and urged voters not to be influenced by liquor and drugs. It was difficult to appraise how much impact did this crusade make on the electoral process, yet it had upset the free flow of liquor and illicit drugs during the 2012 assembly polls in the state. However, a complete halt was not possible as the modes and means of providing liquor and other substances to the electors were altered to thwart the cleansing efforts by the Election Commission and civil society groups. Interestingly, some contesting candidates also kept a vigil against each other and kept the Election Commission informed about such malpractices. One of the candidates, while apprehending misuse of large quantities of drugs (poppy husk, smack, cocaine, opium, heroin etc.) and liquor seized under the NDPS act, wrote to the Chief Electoral Officer to seek a status report on the matter. The relationship between illicit drugs and electoral politics, though unreasonable, has become quite close. Regarding this, a former Director General of Police (Prisons), who wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court for judicial intervention in the issue, stated that narco-drugs were being used by the political parties with impunity to “woo” the voters. Moreover, the drug money, according to him, was being increasingly used in politics by way of donations to political organizations, “as also by the individual contenders both for electoral and individuals purposes134. The smuggling of narco-drugs, as per his estimation, was as high as 60,000 crore per annum. There is a considerable intrusion of drugs and alcohol in the electoral politics of the state. Like the assembly polls, the seizure of drugs during the 2014 – Lok Sabha elections was no less important. As a matter of fact, the seizures of illicit drugs in Punjab came out to be around 75 percent of the total 185 tons of drugs seized across the country by the Election Commission’s teams. Among the major drugs recovered in the state included 17,394 kg. of poppy husk, 155 kgs. of heroin, 93 kgs. of opium and 2 kgs. of smack. In addition, 1,42,311 banned capsules, 1,97,620 tablets, 40 kgs. drug powder and 3570 bottles of syrups were also recovered. Likewise, the state emerged second in seizure of liquor during the parliamentary polls as revealed by the following table.

54 Table XIII Quantity of drugs seized during the 2014 – Lok Sabha Polls in the Country and Punjab Items Nationwide seizures Seizures in Punjab Drugs 185 Tonnes 139 Tonnes Liquor 225 Lakh Litres 11.5 Lakh Litres Cash Rs.331 Crore Rs.12.99 Crore Source: The Tribune, May 13, 2014 and Nitin Jain, “Punjab tops country in drug seizures during poll time”, The Daily Post, May 14, 2014. Elections apart, illicit drugs in Punjab are also used to lure the farm labourers. Presently, the shortage of labourers in the state, mainly because of the implementation of the MNREGA Scheme in the basin states, has further made it imperative for the farmers to arrange poppy husk, cannabis, liquor etc to woo and trap the farmhands to sow and harvest their crops. In scarce conditions, the labourers themselves have started demanding poppy husk, ganja, liquor etc if the farmers have to get the wheat harvested and transplantation of paddy in time. A farmhand in a village in Patiala said, “Till the time the landlords distribute poppy husk, how can we work in the scorching sun? Our quota is fixed”135. Besides, a group of farm labourers reported to have said “poppy husk works as an energy drug for us. If we don’t get our daily dose, we feel tired and are lethargic in the fields”136. According to a Doctor, Zamindars provide free poppy husk and opium to labourers “which keeps them high and they work non-stop for long hours”137.

A man consuming poppy husk, Keeping Company: Another worker Daily Dose: A labourer consumes poppy known as “bhukki” in distributes the contraband among his husk in a field in Patiala. Bathidna..HT File Photo colleagues. Tribune photos. Source: The Hindustan Times, Source: The Tribune, April 19, 2011. October 14, 2012. Providing illicit drugs and liquor to farmhands is perceived to be a common practice, particularly in the Southern districts like Bathinda,

55 Mansa, Muktsar, Faridkot, Moga etc. Regarding this, the police had seized about 100 kg. opium, 4400 kg. poppy husk, 7.5 kg. heroin, 4.0 kg. ganja, 6.63 lakh intoxicating pills, 1228 bottles of syrup and 22 kg. intoxicating powder in a short period from March 1 to June 15, 2011 in only six districts of the Malwa belt namely, Bathinda, Mukatsar, Mansa, Faridkot, Ferozepur and Moga138. This period coincided with the harvesting of wheat and transplantation of paddy. The poppy husk and ganja are reported to be the favourite substances offered to the labourers in addition to the wages for the paddy season. THE AGONY OF DRUG ABUSE The endemic drug abuse has penetrated deep down and spread its wings in all the three regions of the state. The three regions (i.e. Majha, Malwa and Doaba) have their own specific characteristics and cultural nuances with drug abuse being a common factor. Comparatively, the abuse of illicit drugs has turned out to be more scaring and pervasive in rural areas. Even so, it has wreaked no less havoc in the urban areas, particularly in the slum dominated localities of various towns in the State. The curse of drug abuse is thus relatively more concentrated in the villages and the urban localities dominated by the marginal and poor people. But it does not mean that the rich or upper class people have remained untouched by the drug beat. Conversely, the drug scourge has also made some well-to-do families to bite the dust though the number of The roof-less house full of garbage and debris that is the abode of the drug addict such cases may brothers in Patiala. Bharat Bhushan/HT be limited. If Source: The Hindustan Times, March 15, 2011. some have to part with their precious land, some have sold their ancestral assets a bit by bit to fund their addiction. In addition, if some illicit drug users are pushed towards crime others have perished due to

56 overdose, suicide, Tuberculosis, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) etc. Among the family members of the drug addicts, the children, women and old are the worst sufferers. In the case of urban areas, some localities in the holy city of Amritsar itself have witnessed a trail of tragedies on account of an alarming rate of drug addiction. For example, in Maqboolpura, infamous as a locality of “Widows” on the outskirts of Amritsar, even the teenagers have become addicts and worked as couriers for peddlers or indulged in petty crimes. Ironically, “men in the locality have been losing to drug addiction leaving behind widows and orphans”139. The gravity of the situation can be gauged from the fact that a widow “lost six of her seven sons to drug-drugs”140. As many as 329 households of the locality have been affected by illicit drugs and alcohol. The social activists, press and electronic media have often highlighted about the miserable plight of the affected families in Maqboolpura. The state has now woken up to the cause and prepared a plan “to check the menace” through providing health care, education, social security etc. to the sufferers. Consequently, 257 women, out of 292 applicants, were issued widow pension cards in 2013. In addition, 570 children studying at the “Citizen Forum Vidya Mandir”, run by social activists Brij Bedi and Master Ajit Singh were provided health cards. This apart, the facilities of de- addiction were also provided and a sanitation awareness drive was reported to be launched in all the 15 lanes of the locality141. Proper implementation of these measures would bring about a significant change in the situation in Maqboolpura. The ravages of drugs and alcohol have not restricted to Maqboolpura alone. The illicit drug ire, though comparatively less in degree than that of Maqboolpura, has been witnessed by people in other cities too. In Amritsar itself the localities like Anngarh, Putilighar, Chherhata etc are also affected by drug abuse and peddling. Certain areas of the nearby towns like Tarn Taran, Bhikhiwind, Valtoha, Verka, Gultala, Wadali Guru etc are equally hit by drug abuse142. The same holds true about some clusters of population in the other big cities of Punjab. It may be illustrated by the localities like Kazi Mandi, Bhargava camp etc in Jalandhar, some localities in the outskirts of Ludhiana, Gandhi Camp in

57 Batala, Sant Nagar in Gurdaspur etc. Regarding the Gandhi Camp in Batala, it was reported that 60 percent youth were hooked” to drugs. A number of them were also “tested positive for AIDS”143. The addiction to narco drugs and psychotropic substances has proved extremely frightening and painful for several families in such areas and localities. One of the surveys revealed that around 1000 youngsters had died due to the consumption of inorganic and organic intoxicants in two years in alone144. Apart from this, the Joshian Wala Mohalla in Patti town had lost 19 young people to drug abuse in a span of five years. The grieved mother of a deceased youth said, “I don’t know from where he acquired the habit. We tried our best to keep a check, but could not stop him”145. Since the use of poppy husk, opium, cannabis etc of late has somewhat slided, the consumption of heroin has gone up, particularly in the border belt. However, as the one gram pudia (packet) of heroin costs several times more money, it has resulted in serious financial problems besides health hazards. Like the urban localities, there are several villages where lot of families have been ruined by drug abuse and trafficking. While some have lost their lives to drug abuse, some are imprisoned under the NDPS Act. Certain villages have acquired a dubious distinction on account of rampant drug trafficking. In one of the villages of around 400 households in as many as 385 cases under the NDPS Act were registered in different police stations in a period of five years146. Another coverage on this village had revealed that more than 150 people from the village were in jail and another 100 were absconding. According to the Sarpanch of the village panchayat, “it all started with some youth boot-legging liquor from nearby areas. Soon they diversified into heroin and poppy turning this village into drugies heaven”147. This village is inhabited by the marginal people with small land holdings and is located near the border in Moga district. The change from boot- legging country liquor to smuggling nacro and psychotropic substances had turned the village into a drug market where all types of contrabands like poppy husk, heroin, opium, smack and synthetic drugs were available to the buyers representing the rich, middle and poor background.

58 Another village in the Fazilka district witnessed 7 deaths, all below the age of 30, within a year. “Of the seven victims, six were married”. Similarly, a village near Banga, “heart of Punjabi prosperous NRI borough, was hit hard by the drug revile and lost 12 youngsters to drug- related deaths in two years”148. To illustrate it further, in a village of the Mansa district adjoining Haryana, one of the drug addicts had sold the family land, cattle and bricks of the cattle shed and ultimately “hanged himself to death when he ran out of money to buy drugs”. Since many of the youngsters of this village were hooked to drugs, various items of utility like electricity meters, pipes, taps and wires were often sold from houses to buy drugs, especially smack. Incidentally, the peddlers in the village were reportedly operating under a strategy of selling smack in small quantity at about Rs. 30 per one-hundredth of a gram so that they could get bail in few months when nabbed by the police149. Like the aforesaid villages, a village in Tarn Taran, infamous for drug abuse, struggles to find match from other villages. In one of the cases, out of three brothers in a family, two were addicted to narco drugs and the third had fascination for alcohol. Similarly, another village of Tarn Taran near the border, according to BSF, hardly had any family that did not have one member in jail because of drug smuggling150. During field visits, the Bhadal Thua village near the Amloh town (in ), it was gathered from the residents that there were around 60-70 youngsters who were hooked to drugs like smack. These youngsters, according to the Sarpanch and other people in the village, had often caused problems for the residents. In terms of age, they belonged to the age group of 18-30 years and represented the different caste groups comprising the village society. Educationally, barring few, most of them were below matric without jobs. Two of them were behind bars owing to their involvement in drug related cases. The impression that I drew from the attitudes and grudges of the people in the village was that the residents were quite unhappy about the conduct and behavior of the youngsters who had fallen prey to drug addiction and trafficking. The people were helpless and looked to the state for providing them respite from the malaise. However, they were prepared to help in case the government had engaged them in the anti-

59 drug drive. With regard to the source of the contraband, they were of the opinion that the smack was brought into their area from the UP side via Shahbad and Ambala (Haryana) route. The prevalence of smack seemed to be perceptible in areas in and around Amloh, Gobindgarh, Khanna, Khumano and Fatehgarh Saheb. It is reported that smack is also smuggled from states like Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh (The Tribune May 26, 2014). Among the victims of illicit drugs, I also met some women who had become drug dependent and also got involved in trafficking activities. 27-year-old Manni (changed name) from a village in Amloh, who is matriculate and married into an agriculturist family, narrated what prompted her into the drug addiction and how all hopes of life were shattered after her marriage. She said that she had tasted drugs in the company of her husband’s friend’s wife. Her husband too, is a victim of illicit drugs and was presently in jail on account of his involvement in drug related cases. Manni was herself arrested twice for similar offences. She has a 4-year-old child who is being looked after by her mother in her native village which is situated at a distance from her in- laws village. The condition in which she was situated was hardly conducive for upbringing the child, she said. She is not a solitary case. Such examples of drug ravaged families could be multiplied. As a matter of fact, the acts of drug abuse and trafficking have made the life miserable in a number of villages in Punjab. According to a senior IPS Officer, there were four or five such villages in every sub-division151. Moreover, a former Finance Minister of Punjab, while calling poppy husk, hash, opium, cough syrups, analgesics, myriad tablets, injectibles and other chemicals on staple of the youngsters’ diet in the State, said “there are more than half a dozen villages in Punjab with a morbid appellation of villages of widows”152. In some villages, especially near the Indo-Pak border, drug abuse has increased stupendously and peddling has become a family business. Most of the border villages are confronted with problems like poor roads, lack of potable water, paucity of health care and educational institutions, flood fury, restrictions of time on farming across the fence, unemployment and hassles of ongoing hostility between the two countries. The factors of economic

60 backwardness and lack of employment opportunities have led the youth of these villages to indulge in smuggling which is perpetuating in the border belt even since. PROBLEM OF HIV AMONG DRUG USERS Another irreparable harm which drug consumption has precipitated is the prevalence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) among a number of addicts who consume drugs by injection. Drugs abused by injection in the South Asian region “include heroin, prescription opioids and mixtures with other controlled substances”153. According to a 2008 UN AIDS estimate, there were over 18000 intravenous drug users (IDUs) in Punjab, most of them likely to be infected with blood transfusion diseases like HIV-AIDS154. Compared with the neighbouring states, Chandigarh and Punjab had relatively higher proportion of HIV cases in the North-Western region till 2009 (Table-XIV). Table XIV The estimated AIDS prevalence among the males and females in the region till 2009 (in %) States Males Females Punjab 0.37 0.26 Haryana 0.17 0.07 Chandigarh 0.46 0.29 Himachal Pradesh 0.23 0.16 J&K 0.09 0.06

Source: Ministry of Health and Family Planning as Quoted in The Hindustan Times, December 2, 2010. According to the Punjab AIDS Control Society, out of 17,45,526 people tested in 226 ICTCs of the state, as many as 36,467 were found positive and among them 29023 were registered in HIV care155. Moreover, the report revealed that till May 2013, as many as 2830 persons in the state had lost lives during the Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART). Comparatively, as per the report, Amritsar had witnessed maximum number of 329 deaths followed by Tarn Taran 318, Ludhiana-302, Patiala-284, Hoshiarpur-255, Gurdaspur-242, Jalandhar-240, Sangrur-145, Ferozepur and Kapurthala each-102, Moga-83, Bathinda-76, Nawanshahr-63,

61 Mansa-38, Barnala-36, Pathankot-31, Faridkot-27, Fatehgarh Sahib-25, Roop Nagar-21, Muktsar-16, Mohali-6, Fazilka-2 and others-87156. Agonizingly, the proportion of younger ones among the HIV positive cases is found to be substantial157. A sentinel surveillance programme conducted by the Department of Community Medicine, PGIMER, revealed that the prevalence of HIV among intravenous drug users (IDU) in Punjab had been on the rise since 2006158. According to the survey:  “In 2006, when the survey was primarily conducted across Ludhiana district, 13.80 per cent IDUs were tested positive for HIV.  It was 13.79 per cent in 2007 when Ropar and Tarn Taran districts were also covered.  In 2008-09 survey, covering Amritsar, Ropar and Mohali, the HIV prevalence turned out to be 26.36 per cent.  In 2010-11 survey, covering Mohali, Ropar, Tarn Taran, Moga, Ludhiana and Amritsar, 21.10 per cent IDUs tested positive for HIV”. A senior Doctor in the Civil Hospital, Ludhiana, told me that lots of drug users inject diazepam, morphine, fortwin, avil etc. The deadly mix of multiple drugs like morphine and other drugs is used once/twice or thrice a day. Further, the Doctor said that 18 injecting drug users had died in the Civil Hospital itself. According to the President of the Doctors Federation of India, “the injections of fortwin (pentazocine and synthetic opioids) and morphine derivatives are easily available in the markets without any prescription”159. Efforts are being made to give substitute of drugs being abused in a controlled way for therapeutic use. The Punjab State AIDS Control Society initiated oral substitution therapy centres in hospitals (at Amritsar, Jalandhar, Gurdaspur, Ludhiana, Tarn Taran, Moga, Hoshiarpur, Patiala, Ferozpur, Ropar, Kapurthala and Bathidna) which had helped in decreasing the incidence of infection among injection drug users (IDUs) from 26.1 percent in 2008 to 21.02 percent in 2011. Prior to this, the prevalence of the HIV positive among the Injecting Drug Users in the state was 26.1 percent as compared to the national figure of 9.19 percent160. The injectable

62 synthetic opioids being used in Punjab mainly included buprenorphine, propoxyphene, morphine, pentazocine, heroin, codeine etc. According to assessments, the HIV prevalence in India is concentrated in high risk groups including transgenders (at 8.82%), injecting drug users (7.14%), men having sex with men (4.43%) and female sex workers (2.67%)161. The analysis by the National AIDS Control Organisation and National Institute of Medical Statistics has shown some decline in HIV prevalence among certain categories like general population, female sex workers, and men having sex with men. In the case of injecting drug users, the prevalence rate is stated to be stable. However, in Punjab the problem of injecting drug use is quite serious. “Against the national average of 7.14 percent HIV rate in IDUS, Punjab has the highest HIV prevalence of 21.1 percent in IDUs”, followed by Delhi (18.3%), Maharashtra (14.2%), Manipur (12.9%), Mizoram (12%), Chandigarh (7.2%), Odisha (7.2%), Meghalaya (6.4%) and MP (5.1%)162. According to the Additional Project Director-Punjab State AIDS Control Society, the process of Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST) “involves sub-lingual buprenorphine being provided to the IDUs under direct medical supervision. The treatment has shown to reduce drug use, higher-risk behaviours and HIV transmission among IDUs”163. The use of Methadone has also been reportedly initiated in Kapurthala and Bathinda. The practice of needle sharing by injecting drug users or the contaminated needles and syringes reported to have been the major cause of HIV infection. ILLICIT DRUGS AS A LUCRATIVE BUSINESS Till 1960 or so, illicit drugs had barely haunted the people in rural areas of Punjab. The scenario changed during the Sixties when poppy husk, opium, smack, brown sugar and psychotropic substances started attracting the younger generation. Earlier, the narco drugs were available in the State but they had found acceptance either in the elitist circles or in the wake of festivals or used for medicinal purposes. Most people in the villages of Punjab had restricted to the use of country made liquor. But in the changed context, those who used to brew illicit liquor had begun to trade in opium, poppy husk, charas, ganja, smack,

63 heroin etc to get rich quicker. Soon, the incidents relating to seizure of various drugs (bhukki, opium, charas, bhang, smack, heroin) became frequent in the state. These substances started influencing the younger people at universities, colleges, schools and the work place. The paying capacity of people owing to the success of green revolution further gave impetus to the emerging lucrative drug market in the State. What is more, by the 1980s, Pakistan had acquired significance in the realms of drug economy after the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in 1979. Bulk of the money and weapons provided to the Afghan Jihadis against the Red Army came to be funded by the money generated by way of increasing opium production and establishing labs and refineries “all along the Pak-Afghan border”164. The drug production in this belt was further promoted during the civil war and anarchy “reigning in Afghanistan after the fall of the communist-backed government in Kabul” as well as the entery in Quetta and Karachi of Iranian narcotic dealers and Iranian Baluch Sardars fleeing from the Khomeini regime”165. Since drugs and militancy maintain close links, Punjab was no exception to such a connection166. The growing demand for drugs in recent years has widened the scope of persons involved in the production and trafficking of illicit drugs from different areas, including Pakistan. Eventually, lucrative drug business emerged as a thriving enterprise in the state. It obviously brought to fore smugglers, traffickers, peddlers, couriers, carriers and operators dealing in illicit drug trade. Steadily, these elements have penetrated deep and created more and more clients or customers among various strata of people, including farmers, workers, service class, shopkeepers, students etc. Consequently, the number of illicit drug traders, smugglers, dealers etc multiplied in the State. The drug traders and smugglers have also used their drug money to maximize and consolidate their income and profession. As per the officers of the Narcotic Control Bureau, certain persons have amassed huge wealth by merely smuggling narcotics from one state to another and even out of the country. They are also investing the money earned from drug trafficking into property, land deals, bonds, shares and a few

64 have dumped the same in their bank accounts167. Illicit drugs worth crores of rupees still transit through Punjab. The drug trade has acquired ominous proportions and the malaise is proliferated far and wide across all sections and regions of the state. The probable factors which have contributed to the expansion of drug business include: the role of drug mafia or criminal gangs-local, inter- state and international; failure of the politico-administrative apparatus; deficiencies in regulation of liquor and pharmaceutical trade; easy availability, paying capacity of the people or prosperity; inadequate system of treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts as productive members of the society; lack of employment opportunities; uneven growth; decline in the normative spheres of the social milieu; cross- border smuggling from the source countries (i.e. Golden crescent) etc. The drug lords, who control the trade, have not only established links with the licensed growers and illicit cultivators but have also benefited from the small peddlers, couriers, drug traders etc. According to the Superintendent of Police (Detective), “The big-time smugglers promise a fixed percentage on the drugs being sent. The courier acts as a middleman and from fixing the price to collecting the money, they play a vital role”168. The Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab said that an estimated 60 per cent of the Rs.1500 crore worth drug seizures made in the country were seized from Punjab during last years in the country (2009)169. Punjab being a transit point, has created a large number of consumers inside the state over the years. The growing economy, mainly due to the gains of green revolution and remittance money, has also made it possible for the users to meet the expenses. It has, obviously, strengthened the supply network to peddle more and more drugs in the state. Furthermore, the process of modernization, which impacted the socio- economic and cultural transformation in a big way, has given rise to a society in contrast to the previous normative pattern wherein structures of family, parents, neighbourhood, community etc used to influence the behaviour of the younger generation. The deviation from the established norms eventually proved friendly to acts of divergence like drug abuse and smuggling. Moreover, the changes brought about by

65 modernization were also fraught with stresses and strains, which steadily led to widespread use of illicit drugs, alcohol etc. resulting in trafficking, crime and health problems. Thousands of traffickers representing various gangs have been arrested in the state. The facts show that from 2006 to February 28, 2010, a total of 20,490 cases were registered under the NDPS Act and over 23,567 persons were arrested out of which 8,719 were convicted while 4,368 were acquitted by the courts170. According to police officers, more than 41,294 cases were registered in Punjab under the NDPS Act in a period of 10 years171. The number of convicts under the NDPS Act in jails has become sizeable and since a large number among them are also drug dependents, it has sometimes created problems, including sneaking in intoxicants in jails through various methods. The drug trafficking has emerged as a profitable profession engaging thousands of youths from the different walks of life in the state. A peddler/trafficker of poppy husk from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh earns two to three times more price in Punjab. Similarly, the carriers engaged by the international and inter-state smugglers for peddling opium and heroin to various destinations in the state are paid handsome charges. By that very fact, the drug peddlers nabbed under the NDPS Act when bailed out or released have rarely given up trafficking as it has brought them quick money which otherwise in the absence of any alternative source of livelihood would not have been possible. The police on March 11, 2011 recovered 25 quintals of poppy husk from a Verna Car and arrested one person, who was on parole from the Jail in Ludhiana172. The drug trade, being a big source of money in this region, bustles with drug peddling. Arrest of peddlers with heroin worth crores in the international market hardly makes any big news in the region. According to the officials of the “Narcotics Control Bureau” (NCB) “Manipur is second in drug trafficking after Punjab”173. The inflow of drugs from different parts goes on unabated; seizures being only a tip of the iceberg. The major drawback of the war on drug peddling is that, barring exceptions, the enforcement machinery has mostly targeted the small traffickers and carriers. While collecting information from some police stations in districts like Moga, Barnala, Ludhiana, Fatehgarh

66 Saheb, Jalandhar, Tarn Taran etc., I found that over half of the nabbed traffickers belonged to the lower economic category representing marginal groups and backward classes, followed by small and medium farmers and urban dwellers. Barring a small number from other states like Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand etc., all the arrested drug traffickers belonged to the state of Punjab. Most of the women traffickers also belonged to the lower socio-economic category. Among the women peddlers, many of them belonged to various districts of the Malwa region. They had fallen in the trap under the influence of their husbands, relatives, peer women, circumstances and family174. However, since most of the drug lords who control the production, supply line and smuggling have remained out of the reach, the jails are largely filled with couriers, carriers, addicts turned traffickers, drug addicts, peddlers and their accomplice. This can lessen but cannot win the battle against illicit drugs. Regarding this, the ADGP (Law and Order) of Punjab rightly said, “We will go after the big fish because only that can break the supply line of drugs. Every year, we are able to seize not more than 10 percent of the total drugs smuggled. If we get hold of the big players, it will definitely bring down the supply”175. The drug trade does not operate in isolation. It has created a support structure to sustain itself. If one peddler is caught, ten would be allured to enter into trafficking. Criminal gangs have also roped in hundreds of women and children for peddling and supplying drugs to destined places. Keeping in view the situational factors, they often change their modes, routes, strategies etc and seek innovative ways to supply drugs. Sometimes, tempting monetary gains have not spared even those who shoulder the responsibility of eradicating the practice of drug trafficking. The involvement of some enforcement officials and others has come to light in various forms. The drug menace needs to be controlled sooner than later. Breaking the well knit trafficking network and disorienting the peddlers, couriers etc. besides treating and rehabilitating the drug dependents may help and bring about change in the situation. Moreover, since drug abuse is an illness causing physio- psychological and behavioural disorder, it needs to be handled

67 humanely. In recent years efforts have been directed towards controlling the problem of drug abuse through a wide array of remedial measures including the treatment and rehabilitation programes. Regarding this the chief minister on June 4, 2014 also "announced Free distribution of medicines to drug addicts being treated at de-addiction centres of government hospitals, community health centres besides the medical colleges at Amritsar, Patiala and Faridkot"176.

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REFERENCES:

* This paper is based on the survey reports, author's visits to certain districts of Punjab and the secondary source material gathered from relevant books, research articles and newspapers. 1 See, Clayton J. Mosher and Scott Akins, Drugs and Drug Policy – The Control of Consciousness Alteration, Sage Publications, 2007, P.X. 2 UNODC, World Drug Report – 2012, New York, 2012, P.62. 3 See Saroj Prashant, Drug Abuse And Society, New Delhi, Ashish Publishing House, 1993, P.3. 4 United Nations, Report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) for 2011, New York, 2012, p.iii. 5 UNODC, World Drug Report – 2012, p.26. 6 UN, Report of the International Narcotics Control Board for 2012, New York, PP.20 and 93; and www.sigar.mil/pdf/audits/sigar_14.21-Typdf. 7 Ibid, PP. 79-80. 8 UNODC, World Drug Report – 2012, New York, P.7. 9 UNODC, World Drug Report – 2011, New York, P.14. 10 Misha Glenny, “Drug trade undermines global security”, The Tribune, August 23, 2007. 11 For details see, “Drug Abuse in India” (online). Available at www.azadindia/Drug-abuse.Accessed April 24, 2014. Also see Ahmad Nadeem, Bano R, Aggarwal VK, Kalakoti P, “Substance Abuse in India”, Pravard Med. Rev. 2009, 4(4), P.4. 12 UNODC, World Drug Report – 2012, P.97. 13 UN, Report of the International Narcotics Control Board for 2012, P.6. 14 UN, Report of the International Narcotics Control Board for 2011, P.25. 15 Ibid, P.25. 16 Ibid, P.25. 17 Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, Narcotics Control Bureau, Annual Report – 2010, P.22. 18 UN, Report of the International Narcotics Control Board, P.25. 19 Ibid, P.26. 20 For details See, India Hemp Drug Commission Report (online) available at sjsu.edu/people/James.Lee/Courses. Accessed April 24, 2014. 21 See, Ravneet kaur and Jatinder K. Gulati, “Drug Abuse: Trends and Issues”, International Marketing Conference on Marketing & Society, 8-10 April, 2007, IIMK. 22 UN, Report of the International Narcotic Control Board for 2012, P.87. 23 UNDC, World Drug Report – 2011, P.84. 24 Ibid, P.75.

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25 See, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs 2013, International Narcotics Control Strategy (INCSR) Report, March 5, 2013. Online available at www.state.go/j/inl/nls/nrcpt/2013/vol. 1./index. Accessed April 26, 2014. 26 See, UN, Report of the International Narcotics Control Board for 2012, P.86. 27 See, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, 2013, opcit. 28 For details see, http://www.cbn.nic.in/html/opiumhistory.htm 29 Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, 2013, opcit. 30 For details see, Neeraj Chauhan and Rajshekhar, “Opium grown as medicine winds at parties in Delhi: Police”, The Times of India, April 1, 2013. 31 NCB’s Annual Report 2010, PP.20-21. 32 Pushpita Das, “Drug Trafficking in India: A case for border security” (Occasional Paper No.24), Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis, New Delhi, May 2012, P.17. 33 Annual Report 2002, Narcotics Control Bureau, Quoted in Ibid. P.32. 34 Pushpita Das, opcit, PP.34-37. 35 Prerna Tyagi, “North-East: The vicious cycle of drug addiction”. Online available at www.youthkiawaaz.com. 36 Hueiyen News Service, “Drug curse in North-East: 256,968 and still counting”. Online available at www.e-pao.net. 37 See, Editorial “Drugs need new thinking”, The Hindu, May 31, 2011. 38 Ahmad Nadeem, Bano. R, Aggarwal V.K., Kalakoti. P, opcit, P.5. 39 Raveenda Aulakh, “Drugged State”, The Hindustan Times (Sunday Magazine), January 30, 2005. 40 P.S. Verma and Vaishali Mishra, Study on Drug Abuse in the Border Districts of Punjab (Unpublished Report), Institute for Development and Communication, Chandigarh, 2010, PP.45-46. 41 Quoted in Deepak Sharma, “Drug Menace – at an Alarming Stage”, The Tribune, March 31, 2010. 42 See, Balwant Garg, “Anti-drug campaign marked Baisakhi”, The Times of India, April 4, 2011. Also see, Saurabh Malik, “HC: Rope in NGOs to rehabilitate addicts”, The Tribune, April 29, 2011. 43 For details see, The Chandigarh Tribune, October 10, 2013. 44 See, The Tribune, June 26, 2011. 45 Balwant Garg, “Lure for extra bucks sees parents pushing kids into drugs”, The Tribune, October 4, 2011. 46 Amit Sharma, “Girls links peddlers with baffles cops”, The Tribune, November 23, 2011. 47 P. S. Verma, Vaishali, opcit, P.48. 48 Shariq Majeed “Kiryana shops in villages selling drugs without prescription”, The Tribune, January 11, 2011. 49 See, The Tribune, June 25, 2013.

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50 J.S. Sachdev, R.S. Yakhmi and A.K. Sharma, “Changing pattern of Drug Abuse among patients attending de-addiction centre at Faridkot”, Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 2002, 44 (4), p.354. 51 D. Basu, M. Aggarwal, P.P. Das, P.S. Das, S.K. Mattoo, P. Kulhana, “Changing pattern of substance abuse in patients attending a de-addiction in North India (1978-2008)”, The Indian Journal of Medical Research (IJMR), Vol. 135, No.6, June 2012. 52 Dr. Rajeev Gupta, “The white powder of death”, The Tribune, January 31, 2013. 53 See, The Drug Menace, New Delhi, Lok Sabha Secretariat, 1988, p.12, Also see, Annual Report 2010 of Narcotics Control Bureau India, p.6. 54 Ahmed Rashid, Descent Into Chaos, Allen Lane on Print of Penguin Books, 2008, P.318. Also see, quoted in Jerome Starkey, “Drugs for guns-Afghan heroin still fuelling Taliban insurgency”, The Tribune, April 30, 2008. 55 The Tribune, September 21, 2012. 56 P.K. Jaiswar, “BSF seizes heroin worth – Rs.135 crore from Amritsar border village”, The Tribune, October 7, 2011. 57 See, Praful Chander Nagpal, “Heroin worth Rs.300 crore seized from Fazilka village”, The Tribune, October 25 and 26, 2011. 58 Vijay Mohan, “Spurt in smuggling activities along border in Punjab”, The Tribune, June 7, 2012. 59 See, P.K. Jaiswal, “Badal’s appeal to Afghan President holds ground”, The Tribune, May 22, 2013. 60 See, The Hindustan Times, September 7, 2013. 61 See, Perneet Singh, “Heroin Seizures derail cement import”, The Tribune, August 5, 2012. Also see, P.K. Jaiswar, “Heroin found in Cargo, The Tribune July 17, 2012. 62 The Tribune, May 30, 2013. 63 See, G.S. Paul and P.K. Jaiswar in The Tribune, October 2-3, 2013. 64 Anirudh Gupta, “Countering peddlers”, The Tribune, April 16, 2012. 65 See, Ravi Dhaliwal, “Heroin worth Rs.85 crore seized”, The Tribune, June 17, 2012 and The Tribune and The Indian Express, January 22, 2014. 66 Deepak Sharma, “Drug Menace at an alarming stage”, The Tribune, March 31, 2011. 67 For details see, Praful Chander Nagpal, “Heroin Seized”, The Tribune, June 23, 2012 and Gurdeep Singh Mann, “Ex-Sarpanch held with heroin”, The Tribune, June 22, 2012. 68 The Tribune, July 17, 2011. 69 Anil Aggarwal, Narcotics Drugs, New Delhi, National Book Trust, India, p.52. 70 See, The Hindustan Times, June 13, 2003. 71 See, Annual Report – 2010 of Narcotics Control Bureau, p. 13 and The Times of India, April 14, 2010.

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72 Nikhil Bhardwaj, “Canadian held with Rs.15 crore cocaine”, The Tribune, September 4, 2012. 73 See, The Tribune, October 3, 2012. 74 Shuchita Mehta, “Students doing drugs”, The Times of India, August 18, 2008. Also see, Yudhvir Rana and Shivanin Mehra, “Cocaine finds fancy with Punjab Youth”, The Times of India, May 16, 2008. 75 See, The Hindustan Times, November 28, 2010. 76 See, Yudhvir Rana, “Poor Punjabi youth driving drug mafia in West”, The Times of India, March 25, 2008. 77 See, P.K. Jaiswar, “NRI held with 3 kg. heroin at Amritsar airport”, The Tribune, September 27, 2012. 78 See, Molly Charles, “Drugs trade in Himachal Pradesh: Role of Socio- economic changes”, in Economic and Political Weekly, June 30, 2001, p.2433. 79 See, Pratibha Chauhan, “Foreign hand in opium cultivation: Police”, The Tribune, November 10, 2010. Also see, Suresh Sharma, “Foreigners flock to HP for charas”, The Times of India, November 29, 2010. 80 Ashwani Sharma, “New Jobs for NREGs: Uprooting Cannabis”, The Indian Express, July 8, 2011. Also see, Kuldeep Chauhan, “Panchayats reluctant to destroy cannabis”, The Tribune, July 11, 2011. 81 See, Rohit Mullick, “Charmed by Charas”, Times of India, October 12, 2012. 82 Ibid. “Malana is famed for its Malana cream, a “top quality” charas which is sold to tourists, both foreign and domestic, and smuggled to other parts of the country”, Varinder Bhatia, “The village on a high” Eye (Printed and Published on behalf of The Indian Express), Vol. II, Issue 34, November 24-30, 2013, P.4. 83 See, Pratibha Chauhan, “Manali – Leh route being used for drug trafficking, The Tribune, November 10, 2011. 84 See, Ashwani Sharma, “New Job for NREGs: Uprooting Cannabis”, The Indian Express, July 8, 2011. 85 Megha Mann, “Drug menace in Majari”, The Tribune, December 28, 2008 and Lalit Mohan, “Majari village in a hub of narcotic trade”, December 6, 2009. 86 See, Gaurav Bisht, “Punjab drug smugglers find heaven in Chamba”, The Hindustan Times, January 21, 2008, “Narcotic trade in Himachal, Government departments. Have to do much more: GP”, The Hindustan Times and “Remote villages new hot beds of drug trade” The Hindustan Times, May 18, 2010. 87 See, Archana Phull, “From cannabis to cash crops”, The Hindustan Times, November 20, 2009. 88 For details see, The Indian Express, June 25, 2010. 89 See, The Tribune, October 12, 2013. 90 See, The Tribune, July 29, 2012. 91 See, Ravi Krishan Bhajuria, “Illegal cultivation of opium and cannabis rampant in J&K”, The Tribune, July 20, 2012. 92 See, The Tribune, February 9, 2011.

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93 See, Tejinder Singh Sodhi, “2 lakh addicts in valley: DIG”, The Tribune, April 24, 2011. 94 For details see, Jupinder Singh, “Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan cops join hands to fight drug menace”, The Tribune, September 12, 2012. 95 Jupinder Singh, “Cops, smugglers in battle of wits”, The Tribune, October 27, 2013. 96 See, The Tribune, March 4, 2011. 97 See, The Tribune, August 19, 2012. 98 The Tribune, August 27, 2012. 99 The Hindustan Times, August 19, 2012. 100 The Indian Express, August 28, 2012. 101 The Tribune, August 28, 2012. 102 Jupinder Singh, “3 brothers land in jail for poppy trafficking”, The Tribune, October 9 and 17, 2002. 103 See, The daily Post, October 29, 2012. 104 For details see, The Tribune, April 11 and September 2013. The Hindustan Times, June 18, 2013 and The Tribune, October 18, 2013, February 11, 2014 and May 5, 2014. 105 See, The Tribune, August 8, 2012. 106 See, Aman Sood, “Two held with 30 kg. opium”, The Tribune, June 5, 2011. 107 See, The Tribune, September 28, 2012. 108 See, The Tribune, June 28, 2013. Also see, Jupinderjeet Singh, “Notorious smuggler held with opium”, The Tribune, July 18, 2013. 109 Aman Sood, “No stopping of opium smuggling in Punjab”, The Tribune, July 14, 2012 and Bipin Bhardwaj, “337 drug peddlers held in two weeks in Jallandhar”, The Tribune, April 8, 2013. 110 For details see, Aman Sood, “Jails bursting at seams, courtesy anti-drug drive”, The Tribune, September 6, 2013. 111 See, The Hindustan Times, December 18, 2013. 112 UNODC, World Drug Report, 2012, p.80. 113 See, The Dainik Bhaskar, January 2, 2010. 114 For details see, The Hindustan Times, January 5, 2010. 115 Varinder Singh, “NRI drug ring busted in Punjab; 4 held”, The Tribune, June 3, 2012. 116 For details see, The Times of India, June 3, 2012 – “NRI drug ring” and The Tribune, June 5, 2012. 117 Sanjeev Singh Bariana, “Punjab emerging as a major drug producing centre”, The Tribune, March 13, 2013. 118 Sanjeev Singh Bariana, “Synthetic drugs making their way into region”, The Tribune, May 9, 2013. 119 For details see, The Times of India, November 16, 2013. 120 Aman Sood, “Breaking the Punjab Cartel”, The Tribune, November 24, 2013.

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121 See, Umesh Dewan, “Chemists demand withdrawal of instructions to maintain records”, The Tribune, February 10, 2011. Also see, The Hindustan Times, July 30, 2011. 122 Ibid. Also see, The Tribune, October 29, 2012. 123 Anshu Sethi, “Drugs worth Rs.60 lakh seized from Ludhiana”, The Tribune, January 31, 2011. 124 The Tribune, June 7, 2012. 125 The Daily Post, April 28, 2012. 126 The Tribune, January 31, 2011. 127 See, The Tribune, August 31 and September 1, 2010. Also see The Tribune, June 29, 2011 and The Hindustan Times, July 7, 2011. 128 See, Sanjeev Singh Bariana, “Major drive against sale of addictive drugs”, The Tribune, August 31, 2013; Mohit Khanna, “Addictive drugs worth Rs.1.5 Cr. Seized” The Tribune, September 20, 2013 and The Tribune, October 30, 2013. 129 For details about these seizures see, Anirudh Gupta, “Ferozpur in the thick of drug menace”, The Tribune, December 31, 2012 and January 3, 2013; and The Daily Post, July 2, 2013. 130 For Details see, Sanjeev Singh Bariana, “Health Department suspends licences of 450 pharmacists in 2 months”, The Tribune, December 5, 2013. 131 See, Aman Sood, “Liquor sales may touch all-time high in state”, The Tribune, September 23, 2013. According to some, Punjab has the highest per capita consumption of liquor and scotch whisky”, Gobind Thukral, “Drug menace in Punjab”, The Tribune, June 14, 2009. 132 See, Sushil Goyal, “27 resolutions against liquor vends rejected in Sangrur”, The Tribune, May 29, 2013. 133 See, Kanchan Vasdev, “Excise department earns 38 lakh from penalities”, The Tribune, March 1, 2012 and Amanpreet Singh Chhina, “A shift in Punjab’s electoral politics”, The Daily Post, Februrary 29, 2012. 134 See, The Daily Post, September 17, 2013. 135 See, Aman Sood, “For weary labourers, Poppy husk is work stimulant”, The Tribune, April 19, 2011 and “Migrant labourers wooed with drugs, liquor, The Tribune, June 4, 2013. 136 Ibid. 137 See, Anshu Seth, “Government fails to curb drug menace”, The Tribune, June 2, 2010. 138 Chander Prakash, “Huge narcotics seizures in Malwa during harvesting season”, The Tribune, June 25, 2011. 139 Varinder Walia, “Amritsar is the worst affected”, The Tribune, August 3, 2010. 140 See, Vishal Rambam, “Amritsar as leader”, The Hindustan Times, January 30, 2005. 141 Perneet Singh, “No end in sight to miseries at Amritsar’s locality”, The Tribune, February 21, 2012 and November 7 and 20, 2012.

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142 Perneet Singh, “Drug hit Maqboolpura gets a reason to smile”, The Tribune, April 21, 2013. 143 Vishal Sally, “Drugs, Aids now: Batala slum youth falling prey”, The Hindustan Times, October 4, 2010. 144 See, Chander Prakash, “1000 youths die in 2 years: Survey”, The Tribune, June 22, 2009. 145 See, Jangveer Singh, “Elections have little meaning for them”, The Tribune, January 22, 2012. 146 “Nase Ke Dhande Se Juda hai Gaon Ka Har Parivar”, Amar Ujjala, September 17, 2012. 147 Divya Goyal, “Punjab’s drug haven”, The Indian Express, June 4, 2013. 148 See, Praful Chander Nagpal, “Village of addicts: cries for its sons”, The Tribune, August 6, 2012 and Raveena Aulakh, “Drugged State”, The Hindustan Times, January 30, 2005. 149 For details see, Jupinder Singh in The Tribune, July 24, 2013. 150 See, Raghvendra Rao, “Punjab’s lost youth”, The Indian Express, October 21, 2012. 151 Quoted in The Hindustan Times, January 29, 2010. 152 See, Manpreet Badal, “Drug abuse in Punjab alarming indded”, The Tribune, October 28, 2012. 153 See, INCB Report – 2011, P.79. 154 Quoted in The Daily Post, April 24, 2012. 155 The report as quoted in Aman Sood, “Policy for rehabilitation of HIV patients lacking”, The Tribune, August 13, 2013. 156 Ibid. Also see, Rajay Deep, “HIV still spreading its tentacles in Punjab”, The Daily Post, August 1, 2013. 157 See, The Daily Post, August 14, 2013. 158 For details see, highlights of the surveillance in “HIV rising among injecting drug users in Punjab”, The Tribune, January 7, 2013. Regarding rise in HIV also see, Priya Yadav, The Times of India, May 6, 2011. 159 See, Naveen S. Garewal, “Rise iin HIV + cases in state”, The Tribune, December 19, 2010. 160 See, The National Aids Control Organisation (NACO) Survey, Quoted in Sanjeev Singh Bariana, “HIV cases instate down by 5%, The Tribune, December 6, 2012. Also see, The Indian Express, December 1, 2010. 161 Data Quoted from NAC and National Institute of Medical Statistics in Aditi Tandon, “Punjab has highest HIV rate among injecting drug users”, The Tribune, December 2, 2012. 162 Ibid. 163 Quoted in Sanjeev Singh Bariana, “HIV cases in state down by 5%”, opcit. 164 Veena Kukreja, “Narco-Power: its implications for Pakistan”, Journal of Contemporary Asia and Europe, Vol. 1, No.1 (Jan-June) 2007, P.40. 165 Ibid. P.41.

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166 K.S. Dhillon,”A Decade of violence, 1983-92” in JS Grewal and Indu Banga, Punjab in Prosperity and Violence, Institute of Punjab Studies, Chandigarh, 1998, p.110. 167 Varinder Bhatia, “NCB tightens noose around drug traffickers”, The Indian Express, December 3, 2007. 168 See, The Times of India, February 24, 2010. 169 Varinder Singh, “Sukhbir declares war on drug peddling”, The Tribune, January 28, 2010. 170 A Survey conducted by Punjab Police as Quoted in Aman Sood, “Drug Mafia takes roots in state”, The Tribune, March 8, 2012. 171 Ibid. 172 Vikrant Jindal, “25 quintal of poppy husk seized, 1 held”, The Tribune, March 12, 2011. 173 See, The Times of India, February 24, 2010. 174 See, Rajay Deep, “Women in drug business in CM’s home district”, The Tribune, July 20, 2010 and Chitleen K. Sethi, “Crime and Women”, The Tribune, October 7, 2010. 175 See, The Times of India, January 4, 2008. 176 The Hindustan Times Wednesday, June 04, 2014

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