Kerala   

Illegal diversion of drug to Kerala

G. Anand

Buprenorphine, at a street price of Rs.100 for an ampoule, is cheaper than heroin

Thiruvananthapuram: A particular brand of medicine containing opium is being illegally diverted to Kerala in large quantities for sale in the street as a substitute for heroin, Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB) officials said.

An indication of the trend came last year when the NCB investigated a case relating to the delivery of 20,000 ampoules of the medicine, buprenorphine, to a stockist of pharmaceutical products in Perinthalmanna in Malappuram district.

Sourced from Gujarat

The buprenorphine was sourced from a medicine factory in Gujarat. During investigation it was found that the stockist in Perinthalmanna had not placed the order for the drug.

The NCB revealed that the drug consignment had been delivered to an address in Kozhikode.

Later, two persons were arrested on the charge of using forged documents for illegally procuring buprenorphine for sale as a narcotic substance in the black market.

The ampoules had already reached the hands of drug peddlers by the time the agency got to the bottom of the case, an NCB official said.

Less heroin availability

The decreased availability of heroin, owing to a drastic reduction of illegal opium production in Afghanistan, is a crucial factor that has resulted in the increased availability of buprenorphine in the illegal market, according to the NCB.

Buprenorphine has been used widely in heroin de-addiction therapy for reducing the craving for the drug and easing the withdrawal symptoms of `brown sugar' addicts. The drug, having a street price of Rs.100 for an ampoule, is relatively cheap compared to heroin.

The general secretary, Kerala Government Pharmacists Association, K.C. Ajith, said that there had been instances of medical prescription forms and hospital case sheets being stolen or forged to procure buprenorphine from medical shops.

Abuse of synthetic drugs

He said abuse of synthetic drugs containing codeine phosphate and dextrose propoxephine was also high in Kerala. Most of the drugs are sold on the sly and without proper billing, he added.

Licence for few shops

Drugs Controller A. Abdul Shukur said that only few medical shops in the State have the licence to stock and sell buprenorphine. Illegal diversion over medical shop counters is almost zero in Kerala. The drug sold in the street is mostly smuggled from neighbouring States, he said.

Johnson. R. Idayaranmula, director, Alcohol and Drug Information Centre-India, said that a random assessment of drug abuse conducted in 14 urban centres in India had found that at least 29 per cent of injectable drug abusers in Thiruvananthapuram were addicted to buprenorphine.

Gangs busted

The police had busted certain gangs involved in buprenorphine peddling in Kochi this year.

A considerable number of cases registered by the State police under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychothropic Substances Act (NDPS) involve seizure of buprenorphine.

However, the State police feel that they have little information on the buprenorphine peddling rackets in Kerala.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Illegal diversion of drug to Kerala
Briefly

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu