Narcotics Control Bureau seeks help to choke drug flow during CWG

To prevent the flow of narcotics in Delhi  during the Commonwealth Games when a large numbers of foreigners are expected, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has decided to seek the help of agencies like the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence and Customs. The NCB's Delhi unit and headquarters at a recent meeting with the heads of other agencies, mooted steps to prevent peddlers from selling narcotics like heroin and cocaine to foreign tourists.

Customs and DRI sleuths were asked to help boost the monitoring mechanism against the drug flow at airports and ports. Peddlers from Afghanistan, a major heroin producer in India's neighbourhood, who had been using Delhi as a major transit point for smuggling heroin could divert drugs to the local market during the Games, NCB officials said. A good portion of the heroin meant for Sri Lanka is likely to be diverted to the local market, sources said.

"At the meeting we discussed plans to prevent the flow of drugs to Delhi. We have sought the help of other agencies and surveillance against drug trafficking will be increased," NCB south zone director Davidson Devasirvatham told The Times Of India.

The CWG itself has been marred by controversies but is expected to attract a lot of foreign tourists to Delhi, where the availability of heroin at rates lesser that international prices could be a major attraction, sources said.

The NCB has started profiling major international peddlers and monitoring their movements. The local police have been told to keep tabs on local peddlers.

India has been a major transit point for narcotics like heroin, which comes from South-east Asi, and cocaine, which comes from South America. These are then smuggled out, mostly to Europe. Hashish, produced in Himachal Pradesh and Nepal, cannabis from Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar are aslo smuggled out. Besides, several psychotropic substances and prescription drugs are taken out of the country.