The Hindu : Trade in narcotics thriving in city

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 13, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Trade in narcotics thriving in city

THE RECENT seizure of heroin worth Rs. 2.5 crore by officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in Bangalore shows that trade in narcotics continues to thrive in the city.

Over the years, sleuths of the DRI, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), and the local police have seized huge quantities of narcotic substances in Bangalore. The investigations have revealed that the city is not only a conduit for international drug trafficking but also a potential market.

After the seizure of brown sugar, heroin, and ganja worth Rs. 3 crore in 2001, the Chamarajpet Sub-Division police stated that the entire consignment was meant for sale in the city.

The consignment, according to the police, had come from Afghanistan and reached Bangalore after passing through Pakistan, Tamil Nadu, and Kolar Gold Fields (KGF).

The sachets had Afghan seals.

A similar seizure was made by the North Division police a few months ago, and the police had said again that the seized narcotic substances were for sale in the city.

The Bangalore angle in the international drug trafficking came to light when NCB officials from Chennai arrested two Sri Lankan nationals, P. Balakrishnan, his brother, P. Rajarathnam, and T. Solmon of Tuiticorin in Tamil Nadu on December 13, 1999 and confiscated from them narcotics worth crores of rupees.

In a raid in November 1999, the NCB staff arrested a man from Tuiticorin and his two associates from Bangalore and seized from them heroin worth several crores of rupees.

The arrest of the Sri Lankan nationals and the Tuiticorin connection in the drug smuggling are significant.

In his work, "International and Regional Imperialism of Tamils", Rohan Gunaratne, a consultant with the World Bank, writes: "Tuiticorin in coastal Tamil Nadu is the nucleus of narcotic and gold smuggling by the LTTE."

While various agencies have been cracking cases related to the narcotic trade in Bangalore, there have been no reports of any major detection by the Narcotics Cell of the City Crime Branch (CCB).

According to the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime), Prakash B. Moogi, the Narcotics Cell has booked about 10 cases against persons who sold ganja, in the past one year. Mr. Moogi says that narcotic substances are not sold in Bangalore and the city is only a transit point.

"The substances seized here by other agencies were meant for disposal at other places," he says.

Some CCB officials say that it is difficult to gather information about the narcotics trade as contacts at the national and international level are needed. "With limited staff and funds, we cannot bust major rackets," they say.

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