The year 2022 saw Gujarat witness big drug seizures. The seizures have increased 10 times in the past three years, according to the state home department. In 2019, the state police seized narcotics worth Rs 511.87 crore which increased to Rs 5,137 crore in 2022 till December 20.
In 2021, the Gujarat Police seized narcotics worth Rs 1,617 crore which was the highest then. The drug seizures in 2022 have broken all previous records.
If the latest seizure of 40kg heroin from a Pakistani boat by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and the Indian Coast Guards (ICG) is added, the figure will touch Rs 5,437 crore. There is a disturbing rise in the seizure of synthetic drugs too. In 2019, the state police had seized synthetic drugs worth Rs 295 crore which rose to Rs 3,005 crore in 2022.
In May, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) busted a factory manufacturing mephedrone in Vapi. Gujarat ATS on November 29 busted another such factory in Sindhrot village on Vadodara city’s outskirts and seized drugs worth Rs 500 crore.
The reason behind the increasing drug seizure is the impatience amongst drug mafias to clear their drug loads due to the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan which is the largest producer of opioids in the world.
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