‘Drug abuse, trafficking increased manyfold since 2020’: NCB

This year, with six months still to go, the NCB has already seized 4.82 tonnes of ganja, 5.25 kg opium, Morphine 0.710 and 48.8 kg charas.

Of late, amid the Covid-19 pandemic, drug abuse and trafficking increased manyfold since 2020 and this is evident from the activities by various drug enforcement agencies, especially by the NCB Patna zonal unit, Narcotics Control Bureau’s (NCB) zonal director (Bihar and Jharkhand) Kumar Manish said on Friday.

File photo. (ANI)

“We will continue to speed up our operations against drug traffickers and drug cartels to save people, especially youth from the drug menace,” Manish said.

Putting up a united fight against the drug menace, Manish said the bureau is working on a ‘proactive’ approach to weed out drug abuse and illicit trafficking from Bihar and Jharkhand.

On the occasion of International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, Manish said that the day is observed annually on June 26 to raise awareness about the problems that illicit drugs pose to society as well as strengthen global action and cooperation to achieve the goal of a drug-free society. Drug abuse and mental health go hand in hand. The people who are under harmful addictions are not only putting their physical health at stake but can also suffer severe mental issues, he said.

With better and real-time sharing of intelligence, the NCB and other drugs law enforcement agency like the DRI, customs and Bihar Police have been successful in curbing drug peddling.

The NCB also released data showing an increase in the seizure of drugs in the state over the last few years. As per the data, the NCB seized 12.3 kg ganja, 1.9 kg opium and 2.02 kg charas in 2015 and 496.5 kg ganja, 8.18 kg opium and 31.5 kg charas in 2016. The figures jumped to 14.8 tonnes of ganja, 5.45 kg opium and 114.05 kg of charas in 2017 and 6.4 tonnes of ganja, 5.5 kg opium and 212.83 kg charas in 2018, respectively.

In 2019, the NCB seized 6.67 tonnes of ganja, 7.5 kg opium and 33.3 kg charas while in 2020, 4.89 tonnes of ganja, 15 kg opium and 103.9 kg charas were seized in Bihar.

This year, with six months still to go, the NCB has already seized 4.82 tonnes of ganja, 5.25 kg opium, Morphine 0.710 and 48.8 kg charas. “Seizure of increased drugs, especially ganja, also reflects effective crackdown by the law enforcement agencies. Liquor addicts also shifted towards drug abuse after prohibition in 2016,” said Manish.

This year’s awareness drive in rural areas of Bihar has been undertaken by Husk Power Systems, a global rural clean energy services company. Many eminent personalities of Bihar, particularly from Bollywood, Bhojpuri and regional film and entertainment industry, such as Pankaj Tripathi, Sanjay Kumar Mishra, among others, have come forward and participated in the awareness campaign by giving video messages on social media platforms.