Nip it in the bud: Drug trade hits new high

It is a thriving trade and rising so aggressively that it is suspected to be one of the fastest growing businesses in Bengaluru.  With the city’s road and rail connectivity making it a transit point for the drug trade to other major cities of the south, narcotic substances are not hard to get for anyone looking to buy them on Bengaluru’s streets or other public places.   

While the law men claim to be doing their job, booking over 170 cases against the drug peddlers in the city so far this year– more than double the number booked the whole of last year – they seem to be making no dent in the trade.

“No matter how many get caught  peddling drugs, the business doesn’t  decline,” rues a  police officer. Sources in the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Bengaluru and the city police, lament that the cases of trading in narcotics that come to light represent only the tip of the iceberg and the kingpins of the trade continue to go about their businesses blithely. “It is only the drug peddlers who are caught while their bosses always play safe and never get caught,” says a senior officer of the NCB.

 “With multiple dealers and a large number of peddlers involved, it is nearly impossible for the police to unearth the racket and reach the kingpin. Our searches most often end by arresting only the dealers,” adds a senior police officer.

Going by sources, the cannabis enters the city through rail and road with peddlers from across the country pushing their stock via these  routes to the south where there is now a rising demand for marijuana.

 “The consignments arrive on goods trains and are unloaded  at stations like Cantonment and Yeshwanthpur where the parcels are not checked thoroughly,” reveals an officer.

So readily is cannabis available that even a newbie to the city can lay his or her hand on it by merely asking around or visiting clubs and pubs.

Sachets of 10 grams cost upto Rs 300,  but when sold in the loose in areas like K R Market, Anjanappa Garden, Double Road, Majestic, Cotton Pete, Shivajinagar, Hebbal, and Kumaraswamy Layout it goes for as little as Rs 50 a sachet, according to sources.

Interestingly, the trade has become more “consumer-friendly” of late with door delivery now quite in vogue. Unlike in the past when students and IT professionals had to go to designated places to get the cannabis, today the drug peddlers are prepared to deliver it to their doorsteps merely in response to a call. “The agents deal with their customers on the phone and come to deliver the drugs only after careful verification of their identities,” say law enforcement officers working to curb the trade.

Network spread out across India, impossible to root out, say officials
Besides the police , officers of the Narcotics Control Bureau, Customs Department and others play a pivotal role in tackling the drug trade. It’s the job of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the city police to deal with drug peddlers. The Women and Narcotics wing  headed by an officer of the rank of an ACP gathers intelligence about drug supply and  dealers to help it do its job . But the CCB has earned notoriety for its officers making a fast buck by striking deals with drug dealers.

“Most of the drug businesses thrive because some policemen are hand in glove with the dealers. As long as  the police are paid well by the dealers,  their business continues unabated. But once there is a dispute over the amount there are raids and arrests,” says an officer, adding that while the local dealers can establish a network with the police, the African ones, especially the Nigerians, don’t have contact with them and are the most targeted.

Sources maintain that it is impossible to root out the menace as the drug dealers’ network is spread across the country and even abroad. “India gets most of its narcotic substances from Bangladesh. Except for ganja, not many narcotic substances are produced here. All the supply is from other states, especially Mumbai and Delhi. The kingpins of the drug racket sit in other cities and run the show by deploying their men to handle the trade elsewhere. In such cases, we can nab only those who directly come to sell the drugs. 

By the time we get information about the entire gang most of them go underground. So its only very rarely that we can bust major drug rackets,” explains an officer.