Drug smugglers eluding LoC fencing: Jaitley

Narco smugglers have purportedly found a way to overcome the challenge posed by the barbed wire fencing at the Line of Control (LoC). The drug traffickers just throw the narcotics across the fence and receive their payment in currency in the same manner, according to union finance minister Arun Jaitley.

Narco smugglers have purportedly found a way to overcome the challenge posed by the barbed wire fencing at the Line of Control (LoC). The drug traffickers just throw the narcotics across the fence and receive their payment in currency in the same manner, according to union finance minister Arun Jaitley.

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Describing drug abuse as a "curse" that is adversely affecting "several crores" of Indians, especially in the districts along the international borders, Jaitley said the problem's genesis could be traced to its "easy availability".

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Jaitley made the comments in his inaugural address given at an event organised by the National Academy of Customs, Excise & Narcotics (NACEN) to mark the occasion of the United Nations International Day against drug abuse and illicit trafficking.

He added that narco smuggling was rampant in the border districts and indicated that the smugglers had found a way to "beat" the LoC's barbed wire fence.

According to Jaitley, the narco traffickers were also exploiting the indigenous production of certain drugs, grown for medicinal reasons, for illegal use and production of synthetic drugs.

Read:Eight held with heroin worth Rs. 1.75 crore

Jaitley called for more effective vigilance by enforcement authorities, especially in the border districts, to curb the evil. He said that drug abuse was rendering an important slice of the young Indian population useless for the society.

Jaitley also released three books compiled by a group of Indian Revenue Service probationers that address the issue.