Last Update: March 10, 2023, 2:29 PM IST
South Asia is one of the areas of particular concern with regard to monitoring and ensuring the availability of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances for medical and scientific purposes. (Photo Credits: Reuters)
According to the report, South Asia is one of the areas of concern due to the availability of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances
According to the United Nations Narcotics Watchdog, India has registered a significant increase in drug seizures in the last five years with the darknet and sea routes emerging as preferred modes of smuggling.
The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) on Thursday said that heroin seizures in the country are expected to increase from 2,146 kg in 2017 to 7,282 kg in 2021 in the last five years.
In its 2022 annual report, the INCB said, “In India, there has been a significant increase in drug seizures over the past five years, with the darknet and sea routes emerging as the preferred mode of trafficking.”
“Opium seizures have also increased by over 70 per cent, from 2,551 kg in 2017 to 4,386 kg in 2021, and cannabis seizures have increased by over 90 per cent, from 352,539 kg in 2017 to 675,631 kg Is. in 2021, as per information provided by the Narcotics Control Board of India,” the report said.
According to the report, South Asia is one of the regions of particular concern with regard to monitoring and ensuring the availability of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances for medical and scientific purposes.
Based on the reported consumption of narcotic drugs for medical purposes, the region is one of the regions with limited availability of the most widely used opioid analgesics, the report said.
Global demand for pharmaceutical opioids and illicitly produced synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine, MDMA and ketamine continues to rise, the INCB report said, with illicit manufacturing and trafficking organizations expected to increase their global activities.
The report states, “India, which is home to a large chemical and pharmaceutical industry, has seen the rise of commercial chemical factories that have been adapted to make large quantities of synthetic drugs and their precursors illegally “
This growth is driven by the availability of highly qualified but underemployed chemists, who are susceptible to recruitment by criminal organizations.
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