India, Pak to block Afghan poppy route

Sandwiched between the Golden Triangle and the Golden Crescent regions of international drug-trafficking, India has been a favourite transit...

Sandwiched between the Golden Triangle and the Golden Crescent regions of international drug-trafficking, India has been a favourite transit route for narcotics. Virtually coming as a reminder is a record seizure of drugs worth Rs 18 crore at Delhi International Airport today.

The seizure comes even as India and Pakistan get ready to ink an historic accord in Islamabad early next month, mainly to put an effective check on Afghanistan, the home of poppy.

‘‘Afghanistan remains a big producer of poppy. The drug route from there to Pakistan and India, and then to Europe is a big challenge for enforcement agencies. Nigerians still remain the major carriers — though in recent times they have even hired Indians for the task,’’ Om Prakash, Deputy Director General, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), says. This was evident in today’s seizure — three Nigerians shuttled between Pakistan and Afghanistan before smuggling the drugs concealed in footwear into India, and were about to head with the narcotics for Addis Ababa, when they were caught.

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An important addition is that the network seems to be established by air as well.

This is precisely what the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Central Narcotics Agencies of India and Pakistan aims at checking by putting in place a regular institutional mechanism to intensify mutual cooperation and liaison on drug control matters between both countries.

The Director General NCB (a post currently held as a joint charge by Joint Secretary Rakesh) and Major General Nadeem Ahmed — DG, Pakistan Anti- Narcotics Force, will meet in the first week of October in Islamabad to sign the MoU — the drafts of which have already been exchanged.

With 10 of its 30 provinces under opium poppy cultivation, Afghanistan is said to have surpassed Burma as the leading opium producer, say NCB officials here. Afghanistan’s provinces of Helmand, Nangarhar, Oruzgan and Kandahar account for approximately 98 per cent of its total opium poppy production, they add. Raw opium from there heads for Pakistan and thereof to India for distribution to markets abroad, say NCB officials.

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However, intelligence reports now suggest existence of full-fledged laboratories as well in Helmand and Nimroz of Afghanistan where high-quality heroin is being processed from opium.

In today’s seizure, 17 kg of heroin and cocaine was found to have been brought, probably directly from Afghanistan. Recent seizures in both countries also confirm raw opium from Afghanistan being trafficked to Pakistan — primarily for crude processing to brown heroin.

That is the main reason why India and Pakistan need intelligence-sharing to bust the highly organised network of drug traffickers which extends from Nimroz and Helmand to laboratories and markets in Europe, NCB officials add.

Rising demand for consumption in Pakistan over the years has made Pakistan feel the heat as well prompting greater need for co-operation with India, officials say.