EXCLUSIVE : Fake Pharma companies are pumping narcotics in India

New Delhi

Front ya last

A series of nationwide raids by anti-narcotics agencies have uncovered a deeply disturbing trend – party drugs aren’t trickling into the country in small consignments from across the border. They’re actually being manufactured at an industrial scale – on our soil in full-fledged factories that pose as pharmaceutical units. These psychotropic drugs which have a devastating effect on people abusing them are being supplied to the big party circuits of India. Fuelling a never ending demand for party drugs for an illegal high.
These party drugs are produced on industrial scale in factories which have obtained licenses to manufacture general medicines. Low cost and easy access ensure that party drugs like ecstasy, mephodrone , cat valium have a ready consumer base. Raids by anti-narcotics agencies on factories posing as genuine pharmaceutical units have revealed industrial scale manufacturing of party drugs. This is a matter of great concern for us. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) which is the enforcement arm of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has busted more than 8 illicit drug factories across India in the last one year and has unearthed at least 11 other drug cartels that had their networks spread from Vadodara to Delhi and from Dehradun to Kala Amb in Himachal Pradesh. While Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad and other  mega-cities were always a target for drug cartels which pushed amphetamine-based party drugs like ice, ecstasy and meow meow, some of the latest busts have been in places like Dehradun and Mt Abu — with a high student population and boarding schools — which has sent alarm bells ringing.
Mephedrone is produced by making a slight change in the chemical composition of other banned psychotropic substances such as ephedrine to escape prosecution. However, after a lot of reported abuse of the substance, the government last year brought it under the prohibited category liable for prosecution under the NDPS Act. The drug haul from recent raids has been huge.

Nation-wide raids have resulted in several arrests also. Interrogations have revealed that the drug operations have been flourishing for years. The arrested drug makers have also revealed that the fake units keep moving and have begun scouting areas in Himachal Pradesh.  Availability of such drugs obviously makes it a problem for everybody. While we can  try to ensure that such supplies are curtailed, we would also need to educate and enlighten our youth, If we go by the figures of agencies like Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), the seizes of synthetic drugs have shown an upward trend in past few years,
It is clearly visible from the data gathered and a simple analysis is enough to show that this problem is fast becoming a pan-India problem and is no longer a problem contained to the metros alone. The wide spread network that these drug peddlers posses along with the easy process of opening and closing factories to avoid suspicion should lead to  ringing of alarm bells at the highest levels of the government.