Raid of the Year

July 19 marked the day of largest seizure of opium in the country in 2020 (yet) when the Narcotics Control Board (NCB) seized nearly 234 kgs of opium from Rajasthan. The seizure took place in Shadi village of the district Chittorgarh, Rajasthan. KPS Malhotra, NCB-deputy director of operations, stated “A team from the Jodhpur zonal unit raided the residential premises of a person, R. Lal, and seized 233.97 kgs of opium. Another person, M.K. Dhakad of Bhilwara district has also been arrested”.

Fact: 

“India is the largest manufacturer of legal opium for the pharmaceutical industry.”

A vehicle, SUV to be exact, was also seized during the course of operation. Primary investigation enabled investigators to unearth the fact that the opium was actually outsourced from the legal cultivation area of Chittorgarh and was expected to reach Jodhpur. The opium belonged to the drug traffickers based in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

Opium is dried latex obtained from the seed capsule of the opium poppy plant and it is processed to produce heroin. Therefore, it is among the top list of smugglers and traffickers. The legal licences are provided to cultivators of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh by the Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN), under the Union finance ministry. Although the licence is provided on tender basis, some criteria are supposed to be fulfilled before the cultivators are shown green flags. The crop year starts from 1 September and ends on 30 October each year. The extraction of opium takes place during the months of February and March. MQY (Minimum Qualifying Yield) is set by the government each year, which, if a cultivator achieves, enables him/her for the licence of cultivation for next year. 

As per the probe, it was found that some legal cultivators, especially the ones in Mandsaur, Neemuch and Ratlam districts of Madhya Pradesh and Chittorgarh and Jhalawar districts of Rajasthan, sidetracked opium through illegal means and sold it to earn extra profit.

Hope you learned something new today...

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