Anti-drug wings on gadget procuring spree to nab hi-tech, progressive smugglers

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Innovations are undoubtedly serving to in making lives higher for residents throughout the globe, nevertheless it’s additionally being utilized by lawbreakers to evade the regulation.

The Indian authorities; on a battle footing. is within the means of arming its anti-narcotics wings with at the least 10,000 transportable hand-held analysers that can allow sleuths of the customs, border management guards, and personnel of varied anti-drug cells to detect greater than 400 classes of suspected managed and banned substances.

These high-valued contraband substances, it’s suspected, are being smuggled in giant portions with drug cartels deploying progressive strategies to smuggle them into India, which are going undetected.

According to sources within the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), three firms that provide these analysers have been known as for an illustration in April this 12 months earlier than the nodal drug regulator Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), representatives of the state Anti-narcotic Task Forces (ANTFs) and others anti-drug wings together with Directorate of Revenue Intelligence to display the capabilities of their tools. This tools, barely larger than the dimensions of an everyday novel, works on the precept of Raman’s Spectrometry and was first developed by UK and Swiss authorities some years again for efficient drug policing and detection.

“The authorities has prioritized the acquisition of this tools amidst situations of smugglers deploying progressive methods that are extraordinarily tough to detect, besides on the premise of intel inputs and tip-offs,” says an official of Delhi Customs.

To nab the smugglers…(Photo | EPS)

While the three firms – Serstech, Thermofisher, and Rigaku – have given the demonstration of their merchandise, the drug monitoring companies have requested them to make modifications. “During demonstrations, the equipment showcased by the companies were unable to detect some of the most hot-listed drugs, for which we have asked them to make tweaks to make the gadget more effective, and report with the upgraded version at the earliest,” stated an official of the NCB.

The acquisition of those analysers has turn into all of the extra essential within the wake of a latest drug haul by which a younger Kenyan lady was arrested this month on the Delhi airport for smuggling cocaine dissolved in two whiskey bottles she was carrying. The lady was intercepted following a tip-off after her arrival from Addis Ababa (Ethiopia). A search resulted within the restoration of cocaine from the 2 bottles, value roughly Rs13 crores.

Though that is simply the second case since a Nigerian man was arrested in November final 12 months with cocaine value Rs 20 crore dissolved in sealed whisky bottles a senior officer within the Customs stated: “We believe that this could have been popular modus operandi of inbound smuggler that has been going undetected due lack of proper equipment.”

Not solely whisky bottles, of late officers of anti-narcotics wings have been detecting heroin and cocaine being smuggled in as consignment of salt, talcum powder, milk powder, tomato sauces packs, and tetra-packs of apple and pomegranate juice originating from Afghanistan.

India has been sandwiched between the Death (Golden) Crescent comprising Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan and Death (Golden) Triangle comprising Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Myanmar and has been flooded with medication, particularly heroin and methamphetamine, from these two areas. “Now African nations are being used as re-routing hubs,” says the MHA official. 

Though in response to the most recent report by the NCB, drug trafficking via sea routes within the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, is estimated to account for round 70% of the full unlawful medication smuggled into India, “there is a significant number of consignments which are being re-routed through African nations which are coming in undetected due to innovative means with young peddlers including students being engaged in it,” stated the MHA official. The analysers, within the means of being procured, would positively equip the anti-drug sleuths in a greater approach, he added.
 

NEW DELHI: Innovations are undoubtedly serving to in making lives higher for residents throughout the globe, nevertheless it’s additionally being utilized by lawbreakers to evade the regulation.

The Indian authorities; on a battle footing. is within the means of arming its anti-narcotics wings with at the least 10,000 transportable hand-held analysers that can allow sleuths of the customs, border management guards, and personnel of varied anti-drug cells to detect greater than 400 classes of suspected managed and banned substances.

These high-valued contraband substances, it’s suspected, are being smuggled in giant portions with drug cartels deploying progressive strategies to smuggle them into India, which are going undetected.googletag.cmd.push(operate() googletag.show(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); );

According to sources within the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), three firms that provide these analysers have been known as for an illustration in April this 12 months earlier than the nodal drug regulator Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), representatives of the state Anti-narcotic Task Forces (ANTFs) and others anti-drug wings together with Directorate of Revenue Intelligence to display the capabilities of their tools. This tools, barely larger than the dimensions of an everyday novel, works on the precept of Raman’s Spectrometry and was first developed by UK and Swiss authorities some years again for efficient drug policing and detection.

“The authorities has prioritized the acquisition of this tools amidst situations of smugglers deploying progressive methods that are extraordinarily tough to detect, besides on the premise of intel inputs and tip-offs,” says an official of Delhi Customs.

To nab the smugglers…(Photo | EPS)

While the three firms – Serstech, Thermofisher, and Rigaku – have given the demonstration of their merchandise, the drug monitoring companies have requested them to make modifications. “During demonstrations, the equipment showcased by the companies were unable to detect some of the most hot-listed drugs, for which we have asked them to make tweaks to make the gadget more effective, and report with the upgraded version at the earliest,” stated an official of the NCB.

The acquisition of those analysers has turn into all of the extra essential within the wake of a latest drug haul by which a younger Kenyan lady was arrested this month on the Delhi airport for smuggling cocaine dissolved in two whiskey bottles she was carrying. The lady was intercepted following a tip-off after her arrival from Addis Ababa (Ethiopia). A search resulted within the restoration of cocaine from the 2 bottles, value roughly Rs13 crores.

Though that is simply the second case since a Nigerian man was arrested in November final 12 months with cocaine value Rs 20 crore dissolved in sealed whisky bottles a senior officer within the Customs stated: “We believe that this could have been popular modus operandi of inbound smuggler that has been going undetected due lack of proper equipment.”

Not solely whisky bottles, of late officers of anti-narcotics wings have been detecting heroin and cocaine being smuggled in as consignment of salt, talcum powder, milk powder, tomato sauces packs, and tetra-packs of apple and pomegranate juice originating from Afghanistan.

India has been sandwiched between the Death (Golden) Crescent comprising Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan and Death (Golden) Triangle comprising Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Myanmar and has been flooded with medication, particularly heroin and methamphetamine, from these two areas. “Now African nations are being used as re-routing hubs,” says the MHA official. 

Though in response to the most recent report by the NCB, drug trafficking via sea routes within the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, is estimated to account for round 70% of the full unlawful medication smuggled into India, “there is a significant number of consignments which are being re-routed through African nations which are coming in undetected due to innovative means with young peddlers including students being engaged in it,” stated the MHA official. The analysers, within the means of being procured, would positively equip the anti-drug sleuths in a greater approach, he added.