Goemkarponn Desk
Panaji – NCB gets very busy arresting small fish on a cruise ship but when it comes to the biggest fish of them all- the 3000 kg heroin smuggled from Adani’s Mundra port, NCB is completely mum. Why is NCB protecting the kingpins of the organised Drug Cartel & on whose orders questioned AICC Spokesperson Dr. Shama Mohammed.
Addressing a press conference at Congress House in the presence of GPCC president Girish Chodankar, Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat, Working President Aleixo Sequeira and Media Cell Chairman Amarnath Panjikar, AICC national spokesperson Dr. Shama Mohammed came down heavily on BJP Government for promoting drug mafia.
She said that the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence on 15 September 2021 seized nearly 3,000 kg of heroin branded as ‘Semicut Talcum Powder’ from Gujarat’s Mundra port — the largest consignment caught by the DRI so far. This haul is estimated to be worth over Rs 21,000 crore in the international market. The heroin was found in two containers that landed at Mundra port from Afghanistan via Iran, exported from the Afghanistani firm M/s Hassan Hussain Limited, and imported in the name of Aashi Trading Company of Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh.
This is not the first time that such a large drug consignment was sent to India from the Mundra port. In June 2021, 25,000 kgs of heroin valued at rupees one lakh seventy thousand crore was smuggled into India from the same Afghanistani firm Dr. Mohammed stated.
These lethal drugs are now in our Country. Never in the history of India has such a large quantity of drugs been smuggled inside our borders without any intervening check from the government.
It is impossible for such a massive shipment of drugs to be brought in without political patronage. Where are the NCB, IB, CBI and Customs Departments when such an organised drug syndicate is operating freely from the Mundra port? questioned Dr. Shama Mohammed.
After repeated incidents of smuggling, why wasn’t the Mundra port investigated? Is it because of the proximity of its owner Gautam Adani with our PM Narendra Modi? she asked.
The Narcotics Control Bureau has been tasked with the matter of drug law enforcement in the country. It is the primary responsibility of the NCB to monitor, investigate, and prevent the movement of drugs into India. This is the same agency which went into overdrive over 59 gm of marijuana in the Sushant Singh death case, but is now missing in action when thousands of kilograms of hard drugs are being smuggled into the country.
The NCB is without a full time head for the past 18 months, which is very concerning. An agency of such vital importance cannot function efficiently without a full-time chief. Had the DRI, whose primary job isn’t that of intercepting drugs, not caught the recent shipment, it would have gone through like previous ones Dr. Shama Mohammed said.
A serious point of concern is that these drugs shave been sourced from Afghanistan. The money earned on the illegal sale of these drugs can be used against India. If this money makes its way back to the Taliban, which is a terrorist organisation, then it (and by proxy, the ISI) can use it to destabilise our country by funding separatists and terrorist activities within India.
Drugs are a tremendous threat to your youth. Drugs destroy not just the youth, but their entire families with the vicious cycle of addiction. Addiction to drugs also leads to an increase in criminal activities. This narcotic poison cannot be allowed to spread in our country.
In recent years, Gujarat has become a soft spot for drug peddling. The drug cartel has prospered tremendously under the nose of PM Modi and Amit Shah. Such brazen attempts to smuggle contraband can only happen with political patronage.
Drug cartels will only attempt to smuggle thousands of kilograms of drugs if they have previously been successful in smuggling through the same mode with smaller quantities. How long has this been going for?
Instead of taking this opportunity to launch a national offensive against the drug cartel, the government has maintained pin drop silence on this entire incident. Why are PM Modi and Amit Shah silent?
The Congress party demands that the drug nexus operating from Adani’s Mundra port, be investigated by a Commission comprising of two sitting Supreme Court judges. Until the drug cartel is behind bars, the threat to India’s youth and national security will remain.
