Hyderabad: Peddlers use hair dyes to make fake drugs

Hyderabad: Hair dye, one of the oldest known beauty preparations, has become an ingredient in the preparation of fake narcotic substances. The fake drug is being passed off as heroin.

The use of hair dye along with other substances gives that “genuine look and smell” to the fake substance. Not only is the hair dye-based mixture deadly for its users, who get the desired high, it also fetches easy money for peddlers.

The disclosure about hair dye being used as an ingredient was made by two Nigerian nationals who were arrested by the Delhi unit of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) from whom 1,900 kg of cocaine and 1,818 kg of pseudophedrine chemical were seized on Saturday.

NCB officials, who themselves were taken aback when they learnt about the use of hair dye in the preparation of fake narcotics, said that the use of this new ingredient was a cause for worry. They suspected that many drug peddlers across the country, especially foreigners, had come up with this new deadly combo to make fake narcotics.

NCB sources told Deccan Chronicle, “The drug dealers are using hair dye along with different types of chemicals and selling it to users. It is a lethal combination and the users are unaware that the substance they are hooked on contains hair dye powder.”

The chemicals in hair dye may include ammonia, ethanolamine, sodium carbonate, hydogen peroxide, p-phenylenediamine, toluene diamines, naphthylamine. “Some of the heavy metals in hair colouring agents may include lead, mercury, silver, bismuth, and arsenic,” the sources said.

“Hundreds of different types of chemicals are available freely in the market and those involved in the drug trade are randomly picking them up, mixing them with hair dye and passing it off as genuine heroin and making easy money. Drug peddlers are known to experiment with different substances and chemicals but hair dye is something new,” an NCB official said.

Asked if mixing hair dye gives a high, sources, quoting disclosures made by the Nigerian nationals, said that it adds to the pungent smell which genuine narcotics have and gives it the right kind of look and feel. This makes it impossible for users to say whether it is genuine narcotic or a fake.”

Since hair dye and chemicals come cheap and easily available, the drug peddlers are increasingly pushing these type of combinations in the markets to make easy money.

“Genuine heroin or cocaine is costly but making fakes by using all these substances works out cheap and is easy,” they said.

When contacted, zonal director of the New Delhi unit of NCB Madho Singh confirmed that the accused were using hair dye in their preparations.

“Besides cocaine and pseudoephedrine, we seized 138 kgs of different substances and most of it is hair dye,” he said.