5,644 drug peddlers held in city in 2021, say Bengaluru police
For police who are used to seeing drugs coming in from outside state and country to Bengaluru, witnessing a manufacturing unit in city was new
On August 17, 2021, the central crime branch of the Bengaluru police had raided a drug manufacturing unit in Bengaluru and seized 4kg MDMA, a psychoactive drug.
For police who are used to seeing drugs coming in from outside state and country to Bengaluru, witnessing a manufacturing unit in city was new.
According to police, the raid was a part of the renewed effort from the police department to crackdown on drug peddlers in city for the past two years. The data released by the city crime records bureau shows that the efforts have shown results.
In 2021, the Bengaluru police have arrested 5,644 drug peddlers in 4,275 cases and seized drugs worth around ₹59 crore. This has been the highest narcotics-related arrests and recovery in the city police’s history so far. In comparison, 2,766 cases were registered with 3,673 suspects being arrested in 2020. The figure was of 768 cases and 1,260 arrests in 2019.
According to data, of the 4,475 cases registered in 2021, 4,275 cases were related to seizure of marijuana, followed by 103 cases of MDMA, 39 cases of synthetic drugs and other narcotic substances ecstasy, hashish and LSD.
Total 3,641.756kg drugs worth ₹592,775,690 were seized in 2021 against 3,912.826kg drugs worth ₹213,856,550 in 2020, and 1053.188kg drugs worth ₹34,686,700 in 2019.
In 2021, 173 foreign nationals were arrested and 137 cases were booked against them of which, 105 accused were Nigerian. In 2019, 38 foreign nationals were arrested and 33 cases were booked; and in 2020, 84 foreigners were arrested with 66 cases being registered against them.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), in 2020, Bengaluru had reported the highest number of cases related to narcotics in country. “These numbers are the result of a campaign started by the Bengaluru police early in 2020. We have been cracking down on drug suppliers in city. We are confident that the numbers will be much higher in the coming days as we have increased the intensity of operations,” said Karnataka police chief, DG&IGP Kamal Pant.
Bengaluru police commissioner Kamal Pant said in the last two years, there was an emphasis on cracking down on drug rackets in the city. “All DCPs were asked to give special focus on drug cases. We were constantly in touch with other departments and central agencies to track inter-state peddlers,” said Pant.
According to a CCB official, in the last two years, police have been focusing on drug purchases through the dark web as well. “We have found that many criminals have procured synthetic drugs from abroad, especially the Scandinavian countries. First, we cannot track who is purchasing what from the dark web. Second, it is hard to track them when they arrive in country. To give an example, in a case of LSD, also known as acid, it is a sheet of paper. When the order arrives at an airport in India, it is difficult to find it among other larger consignments. But we have been improvising to tackle such cases,” the officer added.
On November 18, while interrogating eight men who were arrested for possessing hydro-marijuana, police learnt that a man had helped the gang procure the drug from Amsterdam.
The arrest of hacker Srikrishna, who procured these drugs via the dark web, had opened the Pandora’s box and resulted in political controversy.