India witnesses 300% increase in heroin seizures in last five years

NEW DELHI: India has witnessed an exponential increase of 300 percent in heroin seizures — from 2146 kg in 2017 to 7282 kg in 2021 — in the last five years. Similarly, there is an increase of 172 percent in the seizure of opium — from 2551 kg in 2017 to 4386 kg in 2021 — and a 191 percent increase in the seizure of cannabis from 3,52,539 kg in 2017 to 6,75,631 kg in 2021.

These figures were revealed by the Narcotics Control Bureau Director General SN Pradhan on Tuesday during Darkathon 2022 organised by the bureau to find ways to counter drug trafficking through the darknet.

He said that the concern of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over cybercrime and the darknet led to the event. The Prime Minister had recognized this challenge during one of the reviews of the NCB and and had directed that a solution to this problem of drug trafficking through the darknet market be found by organizing a hackathon primarily involving youths and technical students of the country. Acting on these instructions, the NCB organized a hackathon by the name Darkathon 2022. It is being organized in three phases from February 15 to April 22.

It was organized as the bureau finds that the anonymity offered by the darkweb has drawn criminals in various garbs to flock to it for aiding and abetting their crimes. Darknet markets offering illegal substances and services to people have emerged as one of the major challenges to law enforcement across the globe.

Drugs are the most widely offered illegal substance in all of the darknet markets. During the inaugural address, Pradhan highlighted the changing drug trafficking and abuse scenario. He said that there has been a rise in drug trafficking through maritime routes and the darknet. He stressed upon this fact by highlighting the UNODC World Drug Report 2021 which says that 94 percent of the sales in darknet markets are related to drugs. He added that effective enforcement activities have resulted in the enhanced seizure of all major drugs in recent years.

Professor Anil D Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education and Lt Gen (retd) Rajesh Pant, National Cyber Security Coordinator, also stressed upon the need for continuous capacity building of enforcement agencies in the field of cyber crimes, adding that technological advancements should be used as a force multiplier. The problem statements of Darkathon 2022 are crawling of darkweb to identify and catalogue active and genuine darknet markets selling drugs, crawling of darknet markets to identify drug traffickers on darknet based in India and the drugs they offer for sale and digital footprinting of active drug traffickers on darknet based in India. The DG, NCB appealed to everyone, particularly students and technical experts, to participate in the Darkathon 2022 to test their skills and to help the country in finding solutions to the challenges that have emerged due to misuse of technology. (IANS)

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