Adani Groups Mundra Port: The Gateway for Smuggling Drugs & Illicit Cigarettes; How Gujrat’s Port has Become the Central Hub for Illegal Activities?

Adani Groups Mundra Port: The Gateway for Smuggling Drugs & Illicit Cigarettes; How Gujrat’s Port has Become the Central Hub for Illegal Activities?

Adani’s Mundra Port has emerged as the foremost hub for all illegal smuggling into the country. In the last few years, the activities related to importing, smuggling and illicit trafficking of narcotics, drugs and psychotropic substances in massive quantities have been reported almost every two months. 

The latest to make to this list is the container seized by DRI, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, which was loaded with 85,50,000 smuggled cigarette sticks of the foreign brand ‘Manchester’, worth Rs. 17 crores.

Interestingly, this is the fourth such seizure of Ciggerates/ E – Ciggerates by DRI in 2022; in April, too foreign brand cigarettes valued at 17 crores were seized and again in the month of September, a similar consignment was apprehended valued at 68 crores.

Gujrat Coastline & Mundra Port – Route of Smugglers

The number of hauls done in the last few years concerning the smuggling of a variety of banned substances – a whole array of kind of drugs and others, it has become increasingly evident that Mundra port and the Gujrat coastline has become the favourite route for smugglers trying to get entry into the country.

A worrying factor is that Ports are considered the first line of defence against terror and other worrisome activities which could create problems for and within the country.

It is alarmingly clear that when it comes to narcotics trafficking, going by the number of hauls, the smugglers are still going full throttle and with all intent to use this route. 

In fact, as per recent reports, from January 2021 to February 12, 2022, the value of drugs confiscated in Gujarat was Rs 3,617 crore. The total volume was 68,984 kg, which amounts to an average daily seizure of 169 kilograms.

This is a disconcerting trend and shows that India’s drug market is thriving and has the potential to become a full-fledged war ( a silent one) if not controlled.

Gujrat replaced Punjab

The transit route for drugs used to be via Punjab borders; however, now the favourite transit route has become the Mundra Port. 

For no reason than Punjab being the route was the term coined ‘Udta Punjab’. The drug menace in Punjab became so rampant that it started to affect each and every household. Not only the young population but also teenage children and the elderly were caught in its grip.

We all know the repercussions that such families and family members have to go through; hence we will not go into the details of the same. 

Coming back to Gujrat and the Mundra Port – the port handles nearly one–third of the country’s sea cargo through its ports. And this has resulted in not only interstate drug lords smuggling narcotics into the country but also international drug mafia.

In the last four to five years, it has been observed that Gujrat is being used as a transit hub for smuggling even overseas to African nations. 

Adani’s Distancing from the Drug Hauls

It has been repeatedly asked, why aren’t the Adani’s taking any action? A whole social media frenzy/campaign was launched against the Adanis for the same.

At the time, the Adani Group had issued a statement against the ‘malicious’ social media campaign against them. It had clarified that no port operator has the authority across the country to examine containers and that their role was limited to running the port. 

This is entirely true; it is the job and falls under the authority of the DRI and the Customs, who are allowed and authorized to check any container.

Drug Meanace In India

In recent years, the drug menace has spread its tentacles far and wide, and drug addiction is spreading fast among the youth of this country. 

Perhaps the fact that India is sandwiched between two of the world’s largest opium-producing regions – referred to as the Golden triangle – Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Laos and the Golden Cresent – Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran has probably much to do with the rise in narcotics smuggling and seizures.

As per reports released by All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) in 2019 – 

• Around five crore Indians were reported to have used cannabis and opioids at the time of the survey (conducted in 2018).
• It has been estimated that about 8.5 lakh people inject drugs.
• Of the total number of cases estimated by the report, more than half are from states like Punjab, Assam, Delhi, Haryana, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim & Uttar Pradesh.

• About 60 lakh people are assessed to need help with their opioid 

        use problems

Now that we know of the figures and how rampant drug use has become in the country, the central and state governments have taken steps to control this menace in the country.

The Narcotics Control Bureau has also taken steps to coordinate with various international organizations to share information and intelligence to combat international drug trafficking.

India has signed 26 bilateral pacts, 15 memoranda of understanding and two agreements on security cooperation with several countries in order to combat the illegal trafficking of these substances.

What is the Way Out?

• Strict steps need to be implemented, regular checking of containers, imposing harsher penalties under the NDPS Act, and improving drug enforcement to prevent cross–border trafficking.
• A person addicted to drugs is as much a victim, and there should not be any stigma attached to the same, nor should it be taken as a character flaw. Therefore, the stigma associated with drug taking needs to be reduced.
• Certain crop drugs which have more than 50% alcohol and opioids need to be contained. 
• The education curriculum should include chapters on drug addiction, its impact, and de-addiction. 
• Proper Counselling and drug rehabilitation centres need to be opened to help quit drug addiction recovering patients.

Conclusion: Stricter, random and consistent checks need to be done on containers that may be suspicious or otherwise. Mundra port has come into the eyes of authorities at the moment since they are continuous reports of narcotics and other banned substances seizures reported in the last two years.

The fact that people engaging in smuggling and other cross-border malicious activities are constantly finding new ways to further their illegal activities, and the authorities need to be one step ahead and be able to gauge the sensitive and prone routes through which these unlawful activities may be carried out.

The drug menace in India is real, and it affects more population than the figures show; many just go unreported or undetected. It is essential to safeguard the youth from this slow-eating termite that hollows out not only the individual but also the nation from within. 

Our laws regarding drug peddling need to be implemented on a much stricter level with harsher penalties and imprisonment, for this is the future of the youth and the country we are talking about.

edited and proofread by nikita sharma