The consumption rate of various narcotics substances in the country has seen a 70% increase in the past eight years and the number continues to rise, Hyderabad Commissioner of Police C.V. Anand said on Friday.
“The number of people getting addicted to drugs has increased drastically. Currently, there are around 10 crore people in the country who are addicted to various narcotics substances,” he said, citing data of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).
Mr Anand said that in the last couple of days itself, officials of Customs and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) have seized heroin worth ₹125 crore at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad. “See how much quantity of drugs is being seized at Hyderabad airport itself. It’s high time for all the stakeholders concerned to come forward, on a single platform, to control drug rackets in the country,” he added.
The Commissioner held a meeting with the officials of DRI and is likely to call for a joint meeting with officials of NCB, DRI, Enforcement Directorate, Information Bureau, Customs, Central Industrial Security Force and Telangana police’s Counter Intelligence Cell, besides local police.
More than 70% of the drugs are smuggled into the country through international sea routes, while 20% is by roadway and 10% by air, the officer said.
Asked if Thursday's arrest of heroin and ganja peddlers had any connection with the recently arrested international drug trafficker Tony’s gang, Mr.Anand said every gang was interlinked with another, since in many cases, the quality of contraband was similar.
Further sharing the progress in the Pudding and Mink pub case, he said that they are likely to arrest four or five customers, who were prospective users of cocaine. “We are waiting for some evidence. The arrests will be made after proper investigation,” he added.
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