Synthetic drugs make way to city from Delhi

Amit Sharma
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 12

The city, which has always remained a transit route for drug suppliers in the region, has become a market for drug supply from Delhi. Synthetic drugs, including heroin and cocaine, are supplied to the city from Delhi, while vials are purchased from Haryana and UP.

The police, who have interrogated the miscreants held with drugs, claim that heroin and cocaine are smuggled from Delhi.

According to the police, drug suppliers purchase heroin at Rs 1,000 per gram from Delhi and sell it for for Rs 4,000 per gram. “Earlier, there used to be many suppliers who used to get drugs from Delhi and sell these in the city at a higher cost. However, addicts these days themselves visit Delhi and procure drugs from there,” said a police official.

The police said these addicts purchased drugs for their consumption and also sold these further to drug addicts in Chandigarh at a much higher price. “In this manner, they generate money for fulfilling their need for drugs,” the police said.

DSP (Crime) Pawan Kumar said Uttam Nagar in West Delhi had a large population of Africans of whom some indulged in the drug trade. “The interrogation of the people who were nabbed with heroin and cocaine revealed that they used to purchase drugs from Delhi, that too from Africans staying in the locality,” the DSP said.

Three days ago, the UT police had arrested an African national with 11.08 gm of cocaine. He had arrived in the city to supply it to a customer. The DSP said similarly, opium was smuggled into the city from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Meanwhile, charas is supplied to the city from Himachal Pradesh, where it is easily available. 

According to police records, the addiction to banned injections has witnessed a sharp rise in the past few years. Addicts, especially those in colonies, are hooked to banned injections. Those selling these injections in the city get these from Ambala and Yamunanagar in Haryana or Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh. Two vials, which cost Rs 40, are sold for Rs 400 in the city. 

This year, the police have recovered over 2,900 banned vials. In 2017, 3,989 vials were recovered. In 2017, 240 cases were registered under the NDPS Act, leading to the arrest of 244 persons of whom 20 were women and three Nigerians. The police had recovered 1,325 gm of heroin and 3,989 vials among other drugs.