Another drug haul

The seizure of 77 kg of heroin worth Rs 400 crore from a Pakistani boat off the Gujarat coast by the Indian Coast Guard and the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad is the latest in the series of such major hauls in the past couple of years. Given the relative ease of escaping detection among the nearly 25,000 fishing boats plying in the area, the Kutch coast has become a popular transit point for the drug syndicate from the neighbouring countries for onward shipment around the globe.The recent spurt in drug seizures is probably the tip of the iceberg. The agencies concerned must ramp up their act in not only detecting and catching the men red-handed at the coast, but also spare no efforts in getting to the bottom of the evil rackets. Alas, thorough investigations into such big-ticket cases leading to the prosecution of the kingpins of the nefarious activities — that have long-term repercussions of potentially ruining lakhs of lives at risk of drug addiction — are rarely heard of. While cases of small fry abound (remember the Aryan Khan episode), the big sharks always manage to escape the noose.Perhaps, it was due to the ease of evading the net that a drug cartel chose the Mundra port in Kutch for smuggling, leading to arguably the confiscation of the biggest consignment of drugs in the world in September. Credit goes to the DRI for intercepting 3,000 kg of top-grade heroin, believed to be from Afghanistan, and worth Rs 21,000 crore. But, the efforts to bust the powerful international drug network at play in this instance, too, seem to be headed nowhere, even as the NIA has taken over the probe and the ED is looking into the money-laundering aspect. Interestingly, a special NDPS court has directed the DRI to see if the Mundra Adani Port and its officials have gained any benefits from the multi-crore deal. It’s high time the drug menace is confronted head on and the youth saved from doom.