Drug lords find new ways to peddle as Mumbai cops tighten noose

Though the Mumbai police have waged a war against drug lords and have been carrying out raids to weed out the contrabands being sold in the financial capital, the growing menace of drugs abuse among college-goers has become a matter of grave concern for the state government, police department and narcotics control bureau officials.

To stem the rise of drug abuse among the college students, underage children and the youth who consume drugs during parties, the city police have been conducting raids, across the city. However, the drug cartels make way into the city through various means.

At least 125 drug peddlers have been arrested under a special drive in the last eight months from western suburbs, last month and contrabands worth more than Rs 4 crore have been seized, a senior officer said. The official told DNA that the seized items included MD or MDMA, a recreational drug, cocaine, charas, ganja, etc. A senior police officer said that in a collective effort, the police along with officials of narcotics control have upped their ante to curb the menace and have carried out raids on over 80 kiosks. The drive was taken up in the Western region.

Where one can find Ganja easily in large amount in the city?

The Anti narcotic Cell has spotted key points in the city where the drug peddlers sell ganja, cocaine, nicotine, afeem, brown sugar and hashish or hash being sold in areas like Andheri, Bandra, Oshiwara, Kurla, BKC, Borivali, Nallasopara, Dongri, Jogeshwari, Marol, Santacruz, etc. The drug trade is mostly done by agents from Delhi or Afghan nationals.

According to a senior official, there are agents who involve delivery boys and use old school methods to deal in drug cartels sending consignments to post office or courier companies.

According to a police officer, due to the recent crackdown and over 120 FIRs filed, the police has been cracking a whip against the drug mafia. "The dealers get these contrabands from the suburban part of the city like from Karnataka border and from Delhi. Either the cartel is being transported through sea or land," informed another official.

Drug-carriers target to sell near educational institutions

Another senior police officer told DNA that once the agents get the drugs, they target specific areas where the student population is large in number. The key areas targeted by them in the city are Andheri, Juhu, Marine Drive, Colaba, Santacruz, Bandra, and nearby college area where the student or buyer meet the peddler in person and scoots in seconds. Majority of the deal happens via Whatsapp. The carrier would be called at a meeting point near a tea vendor or a pani puri wala and the packet would be sold.

During check done by DNA it also came to light that Besides, using empty parking lots or isolated godowns, the youth also use public toilets to roll the paper.

Code words used to sell/buy drugs near educational institutions

Code words are used to sell and buy ganja near educational institutions where pan shops, small shops and bakeries are located. The code for the five grams packet of ganja – 'One Puff', 'Maal', 'Stuff', 'Baby', 'Boom Shankar', etc. While on Marine Drive post 9 pm, the agents would be calling out code names like 'Massage' to handover drugs to their clientele. While one gram of cocaine would cost Rs 3,800 to Rs 4,500, ganja is sold at Rs, 1,500 to Rs 2000. The most easily accessible contrabands are Marijuana and cocaine.

The drug route in Maharashtra and Mumbai

The contrabands from countries like Myanmar, Afghanistan and Iran come to India into cities like Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Mumbai and Goa in huge consignments. From there the agents easily get these cartels to Mumbai by train, bus, freight vehicle, air and sea.

While Ganja is supplied by train from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh border, heroine is being brought in the city by sea route via Iran. A recent raid exposed how the drug lords are using jute bags, which are used to carry spices, is soaked and dried in heroin solution. The probe revealed that the jute bags are covered with a thin plastic bag and a gunny bag on top of it.

The Afghan cartel used the spice trade routes between India and Afghanistan to spread the narcotics network. Though the heroin in its purest form is mostly odourless, to avoid suspicion at the borders and in customs, these jute bags would have spices like cumin and basil. The strong aroma of the condiments would overpower even the hint of any heroin odour. The consignments in heroin soaked gunny bags were moved from Herat in Afghanistan to Bandar Abbas port in Iran and finally made its way to Mumbai via sea.

Mumbai police on their official twitter handle has been receiving complaints about the sale and use of contrabands like ganja by the youth.