“India continues to be the main source of illicit synthetic drugs.” This statement was included in the Introduction of a Bureau of International Narcotics And Law Enforcement Affairs annual report titled, 2014 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR). Made public in recent months, this indictment of India’s interdiction and enforcement of psychotropic drugs has been aired by the US State Department.
A Special Forces general and a commander of a strike corps of the Indian army, veteran Lt Gen Prakash Katoch says, “There is a strong connection between the illicit drug trade and the arms lobby.”
The ‘Narcotics Report’ states, “The diversion of ephedrine from legal production companies in India to illicit ephedrine brokers is a serious problem. In 2012, Indian drug law enforcement agencies seized approximately 33.8 million ephedrine and pseudoephedrine tablets. Through the first nine months of 2013, however, only 1.63 million tablets were seized — a notable decrease. It is unclear if ephedrine and pseudoephedrine trafficking has truly declined or if ephedrine and pseudoephedrine traffickers have become more adept at evading Indian law enforcement.”
The ‘Report’ also claims instances of rampant corruption, lacunas in training and complicity of the cutting edge agencies of cross-border smuggling of opiates in raw and refined form even from Pakistan are continuing.
In a telling indictment, the ‘Report’ states, “The two main Indian agencies responsible for monitoring India’s borders are the Border Security Force (BSF) and Indian Customs Service (ICS). ICS manages the entire official border crossing checkpoints with Pakistan and is responsible for checking all cargo and persons attempting to enter India. India’s porous borders and inadequate training limit the effectiveness of BSF and <g data-gr-id="40">ICS,</g> and provide exploitable opportunities for illegal smuggling, cultivation, and production. These agencies also do not possess technology which allows them to keep pace with traffickers who take full advantage of modern communication technology.”
While being careful in wording the report and making severe allegations, the State Department Bureau also states that the Indian Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB) monitors opium cultivation through satellite imagery. But these satellite images are not of the quality by which the growing cultivation can be identified clearly.
The ‘Report’ also says, “Traditional drug trafficking organisations in India are diversifying from heroin to ephedrine trafficking due to higher profit margins. Legitimate factory owners and operators are transitioning into criminal drug production and trafficking due to its enormous profit potential and <g data-gr-id="36">low-risk</g> of capture by Indian law enforcement. However, the Indian legal system is not developing fast enough to keep pace with this changing trend.”
The connection of this with the arms trade is at a subliminal <g data-gr-id="30">level,</g> though the they are symbiotic in most parts of the world, sources say.