Drug dealers turning teens into addicts, then sellers: NCB

NCB officials said this is a recent trend they have come across through investigations

A worried mother recently walked into the Narcotics Control Bureau’s (NCB) south Mumbai office with her teenage daughter, a first-year graduation student addicted to Mephedrone (MD) and now embroiled into selling the drugs, asking for their help. Similarly, a teenage boy was counselled by NCB officials after his parents approached them with his drug problem.

The NCB is keeping a close watch on drug traffickers targeting youngsters and pulling them into this racket. (Pic for Representation)

NCB officials said this is a recent trend they have come across through investigations. “The common modus operandi is to distribute the drugs free of cost initially. Later, the teenagers who ask for more drugs are forced to sell them to peers, thus creating a chain,” said a high-ranking NCB officer.

The NCB is keeping a close watch on drug traffickers targeting youngsters and pulling them into this racket.He added, “Drug traffickers are targeting young boys and girls. The interaction with the victims revealed that the traffickers scout for youngsters with personal problems. In one case, the girl’s parents were mulling for divorce and the scenario at home was affecting her and that they used to make her turn to drugs.”

The victims revealed that they consumed the drugs almost daily and at times resorted to stealing money from their parents. After a prolonged campaign on its abuse by various enforcement agencies, the state and the Bombay HC, MD was included in the NDPS Act on February 5, 2015. “Young girls are first turned into drug addicts and then asked to be sellers. This trend is worrying,” said the officer.

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