The seizures of contraband, smuggled goods on borders and high seas by enforcement agencies are still tip of the iceberg: Rakesh Asthana
New Delhi, April 23
FICCI Cascade hosted a talk with Director General (DG) of Border Security Force (BSF) and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on narco terrorism, seizures of narcotics high seas and borders and smuggling of counterfeit goods and currency and steps taken to enforce action.
A few weeks back, Rs. 2000 crores worth drugs were seized by the NCB. In 2020, BSF seized smuggled goods worth Rs. 39 crores and apprehended 171 trans-border criminals. In this months, BSF seized smuggled goods worth Rs. 45 lakhs on Bangladesh border in Meghalaya.
The seizures are still the tip of the iceberg and the enforcement agencies are still underway to bust the entire cartel.
BSF India which is the first line of defence that protects over 6336.36 kilometers of the borders of the country on eastern and western side. BSF is manning 143 kilometers of the LOC which is mainly guarded by the Indian Army.
DG Rakesh Asthana said, “During the peace time most of the activities on the borders comprise of the cross border smuggling activities. Mostly narcotics are being smuggled through the land border adjoining Pakistan. Apart from narcotics, arms, ammunition and explosives are also being pushed through the Indo Pakistan border. On Bangladesh, we are witnessing smuggling activities of FICN, infiltration, human trafficking. The Pakistan border being a hostile border, we face ceasefire violations and cross border firings”.
Asthana pointed out that though Bangladesh is a friendly country, the border is porous therefore elements on both sides push in smuggling.
He said, “From the Indian side, codein based cough syrup is which is not banned in Bangladesh. Transportation of cattle is also high (which is banned in India) in Bangladesh. The organized syndicates operating on both sides are well organized and large amount of money is transacted. A cattle worth Rs. 1000 in India is worth Rs. 5000 in Bangladesh. The money generated from such activities is used in funding illegal and terror activities”.
Elaborating more on the narcotics smuggling on the eastern borders, Asthana said, “Large amounts of Yaba tablets are being smuggled into India from Myanmar through Bangladesh. This is again a huge money generating business further used for terror, arms and ammunition syndicates”.
Talking about the narcotics on the western border of the country, Asthana added, “The syndicates of narcotics are being supported by ISI and related agencies. The drones are now being used to supply contraband and arms. Earlier, they used secret tunnels, now they use technology. After the implementation of Article 370, security forces tightened up in J&K, they picked up the maritime route. The security forces have seized huge quantities of heroin on high seas”.
Recently the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard seized 300 kilograms of heroin. Earlier, ICG seized a ship containing 500 kgs of heroin. Today, another ship has been nabbed by the ICG which is under investigation.
The heroin originating from Afghanistan and Pakistan is being smuggled through high seas near the country.
Another menace is misuse of pharmaceutical substances. 42 lakh tablets of Tramadol (pain killers) were seized which is again misused as drugs. NCB and Punjab Police busted a network of exporting of smuggling Tramadol tablets from Mathura and Agra. We also busted one person who was using dark net from Lucknow to illegally sell pharmaceuticals.
Quoting from a recent survey of GOI (2018-19) on narcotics consumption, Asthana stated that as per the survey, it was found that nearly 2.1% people are addicted to opioids. 28 lakhs are confirmed addicts. If you take 20 lakhs and take 0.5 grams of heroin (on an average normal consumption) per day, the per day consumption totals up to 1 metric ton. This leads 365 metric tons of heroin for an entire year which leads to an amount of Rs. 1, 44,000 crores.
The NCB seized 3300 kilograms of heroin whereas as per the survey the consumption is 365 tons.
He added, “The seizures are still the tip of the iceberg in terms of narcotics seizures. Indian is the recipient of large amounts of narcotics. Lot of coordination is required among various agencies and enforcement agencies to tackle this menace”.
Speaking about the coordination with agencies, Asthana added, “We have set up an organized system of sharing of information with the agencies at the central and state level which helped us with large seizures at borders and high seas”.
Former CBI Director Anil Sinha who is also the think tanker member of the FICCI Cascade participated in the talk. During his tenure, the country witnessed some key judgements in underworld dons Chotta Rajan and Abu Salem’s judgements.
Sinha said, “With the pandemic, narco terrorism and smuggling activities increased which not only boost home grown terror activates but also used by foreign sources who disturb the economy of the country”.
Sinha mentioned that since borders are porous and deployment of personnel is not enough. The agencies require better coordination with the Interpol and intelligence agencies across the world.
Asthana affirmed that the problem of coordination among agencies is a hitch however he added, “We are in touch with our counterparts with our counterparts from commandants to commander levels. Every month our regional commandants and commanders are talking to their counterparts. We conduct joint patrolling on the borders at peak hours when incidents of smuggling are high. On the western front, the situation with Pakistan, the regular coordination with the counterparts is not there”.
He said, “In our country, we are having excellent coordination with the IB, NTRO, R&AW, Armed forces, state police force and all agencies. The state police forces are also cooperating with us in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Bengal and North Eastern states where BSF is deployed we have full coordination”.
Asthana however pointed out that the state police doesn’t give much importance to drugs as compared to law and order and crime. However NCB being the nodal agency for drug administration in India, the agency is trying to develop coordination with state enforcement agencies.
In 2019, the MHA came up with a four tier coordinated mechanism in which state level officers, cutting edge officers are also involved. The whole process is led by DG NCB where series of meetings are held to deal with smuggling.
FICCI Cascade, Chairman, Anil Rajput said, “Smuggling also creates large scale destabilization in the country’s economy. With the recent Covid crisis, where criminal shave used pandemic to increase their nefarious activities to cause damage on the economy. The para military forces and enforcement agencies have seized various counterfeit products including sanitizers, masks, PPE kits, toiletries, electronic goods, spices, drugs, alcohol and more.
FICCI Cascade is a committee against smuggling and counterfeiting activities.
