The Conversation on Drug Menace is Absolutely Unavoidable

Acute Angle

- Anand Neelakantan Author of Asura, Ajaya series, Vanara and Bahubali trilogy

There is a silent epidemic that has gripped the Indian youth and is threatening to derail not just their future but also that of the country. The drug menace has reached frightening proportions, and it is scary that this hasn't become the most talked about subject in the country. We are still stuck with burial places of long-dead tyrants or what they did three hundred years ago to bother about what is happening around us. One needs only to scroll through the news about drug busts happening across the country to have an idea of what we are about to face.

Narcotics valued at more than ₹11,311 crore were confiscated from harbours throughout the nation in 19 separate operations during the last five years, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) recently told the Lok Sabha in response to a question from the opposition leader. The highest volume and worth of trafficked substances was documented at the Adani Port, SEZ Mundra in Gujarat on September 19, 2021, when central authorities intercepted 2,988 kg heroin estimated at ₹5,976 crore. The next major interception, according to the minister's statement, consisted of 303 kg cocaine valued at ₹1,515 crore, captured at VOC port, Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu on April 20, 2021.

In November 2024, the Narcotics Bureau and Delhi Police's Crime Branch busted a drug cartel involving a Mexican drug lord in Gautam Buddha Nagar's Kasana Industrial area. Law enforcement leadership is concerned that this manufactur-ing facility indicates the country's evolution from a drug trafficking corridor into a nation that both makes and uses dangerous narcotics such as methamphetamine.