The Narcotics Control Bureau has been extra-busy over the past year, with the number of cases booked increasing ten-fold since 2018.
Officials say Bengaluru has emerged as a major hub for the sale and consumption of drugs in the last three years, and cases booked under the Narcotics, Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act spiked dramatically after the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020.
The use of synthetic, expensive drugs such as MDMA, cocaine, and ecstasy has gone up, says Amit Ghawate, zonal director of the Narcotics Control Bureau.
The Bengaluru office of the bureau also covers Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. “Ganja comes from Odisha and Andhra Pradesh and is trafficked via Hyderabad to neighbouring states. In one of our first operations, after I took charge in July last year, we seized 1,000 kg of ganja from Hyderabad and got only 200 kg ganja in Bengaluru,” he says.
Last year, a major drug racket was busted in Manipal. “This gang would order drugs from the dark Net in bulk, using bitcoins. They operated under different names and dealt only in cryptocurrency. We also found that credit cards and addresses used by consumers belonged to people with fake identities,” he says. The drugs were also sold to rave party organisers in Sri Lanka.
Smuggling route
Since Bengaluru is not a coastal city, drugs are brought in by air and rail, besides courier and post.
“Bengaluru is also a huge export hub for a drug called ephedrine. This is smuggled to various countries. It is concealed in baby bags and toilet seat covers,” says Ghawate.
A consignment of mephedrone, which can be snorted like cocaine, was intercepted when it was being smuggled to Australia. “It was concealed in roti makers and utensils. It was ready for export. It brought to light some sophisticated work done by smugglers. We had to break open the utensils,” he says.
Modus operandi
The peddlers are usually between 18 and 50 years. They hold numerous fake passports, visas and Aadhaar cards, says Ghawate.
Drugs are also sold on the darknet on sites such as Alpha Bay and Silk Road.
“You can never trace the IP address because they use the incognito mode in their browsers. It offers anonymity,” says another senior officer at CCB.
The Internet has three layers, and what most people use is only four to 10 per cent. The second and third layers are called the darknet and the deepnet respectively and are not visible in the public domain, he says.
Drug cases in Bengaluru
2020 2,766
2019 768
2018 286
Jail term
For drug offences, sentences range from six months to 20 years.
Recent cases
Jan 15, 2021: Ephedrine weighing 49.35 kg was concealed in kitchen utensils ready to be exported.
Dec 17, 2020: 3,000 MDMA pills (610 gms) were found in a parcel coming in from the Netherlands.
Nov 11, 2020: 6.8 kg of pseudoephedrine seized from two parcels from Amritahalli, Bengaluru. Headed for South Africa.
Tip them off
Citizens can call 080 29720566 to inform the Narcotics Control Bureau about narcotics sale and use.
Who consumes them?
Synthetic drugs are expensive, and consumed by the rich, while ganja is smoked by others. “The elite scout for safe and secure havens to party and consume drugs. Some people have become brands by organising parties. It is a close-knit group,” says an officer.