In a joint operation in February, the Indian Navy and the Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB) officials seized 234 kg of crystal methamphetamine from a fishing boat off Gujarat. Top enforcement officials said the Afghanistan origins of the drug indicated that it was processed from natural ephedrine extracted from the Ephedra plant that grows wild in the country’s highlands.
Investigators said South Asian and Nigerian drug cartels had long dominated the illicit meth trade. The syndicates used pseudoephedrine, a decongestant found in cough and cold medication, to manufacture the potent narcotic.
However, sourcing the chemical in trade quantities from over-the-counter medicines had rendered meth an expensive drug. In contrast, the Ephedra plant, harvested in at least eight provinces in Afghanistan, emerged as a cheaper option and catalysed illegal meth production. Narcotic enforcers said Ephedra plant-based meth manufacture was easy, fast and cheap.
To Pakistan via Iran
Investigators believe that scores of meth labs operate out of kitchens in Afghanistan's Farah, Herat, and Nimroz provinces that border Iran. They said the meth intercepted off Gujarat had possibly reached the Pakistani waters of Jakhua from Pasni in Iran.
The traffickers had presumably offloaded the drug into the fishing vessel, later interdicted by the Indian Navy. Officials said the transition from synthetic to plant-based ephedrine had accorded Afghanistan-based meth producers a competitive edge over their rivals. The shift has also helped lower the price of the drug drastically.
Drug enforcers also sense a shift in the narcotic consumption pattern favouring meth. "Meth is fast replacing cannabis, heroin and intravenously administered buprenorphine as the drug of choice, given its affordability, availability and stimulation (wakefulness) compared to other drugs," a Kerala State Excise Enforcement Squad (SEES) investigator said.
From Bengaluru
The SEES had seized at least 8 kg of meth till August this year. The drug was routinely smuggled into Kerala from Bengaluru, and several carriers were youngsters. The official said the detections were just the tip of the iceberg.
Mohan Roy, associate professor, department of psychiatry, government medical college, Thiruvananthapuram, said meth abuse was increasing. “Meth seems to be fast replacing depressant drugs like alcohol, opiates and morphine. Meth causes extreme drug dependence,” he said.
