Illegal drugs trade is one of the biggest crimes in the modern world, threatening the peace, security, and well-being of humanity. It is operated in underground markets and has a chain from the manufacturer to the consumer. The chain ranges from low-level street dealers who may be individual drug users themselves, to street gangs, contractor-like intermediaries, up to multinational empires that rival governments in size.
Swedish economist Nordstrom argued that drugs are good illustrations of the complex interplay of legal, illicit, and survival economies. English economist Bean argued that the recognition that drugs and money are but two sides of the same coin marked an important change in the way traffickers were dealt with.
It is estimated that illegal drugs worth Rs. 158,0350,060 was smuggled in and through Nepal in 2008, Rs. 5,572,750,860 in 2009 and Rs. 2,860,466,700 in 2010. Due to big flow of money the crime is organized, and interrelated with other forms of crime. [break]
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The worldwide trade of illegal drugs is difficult to estimate. Despite that, reputed organizations have estimated the value of drugs trade in terms of its trade circle. United Nations estimates the annual value of illicit drug traffic at US $500 billion. The illegal drug trade is a global black market consisting of their cultivation, manufacture, distribution, and sale. In the 2005 World Drugs Report, the UNODC put the value at ‘‘US$ 13 billion at production level, US $94 billion at wholesale level, and US$ 332 billion based on retail prices.’’ The flow of money in the drugs business is in billions, which means that it has the capacity to generate further crime and also affect global economics.
Drug addiction is killing millions of people every year and creating misery for tens of millions of others. The injection of drugs is spreading HIV and hepatitis. According to UNODC, it is estimated that approximately 200 million people, nearly 5 per cent of the world population aged 15 to 64, use illegal drugs. Opium trafficking is fuelling instability in a dangerous region like Afghanistan. Sandwiched between the world’s largest opium producing areas, the Golden Triangle and the Golden Crescent, South Asia is a major transit point in international narcotics trade. It is home to a large number of insurgent and terrorist groups having important links in the narcotics trade, which use the money from drugs to fund their weapon purchases. Cannabis grows wildly in the high hills of the central, mid-western, and far western parts of Nepal, where eradication of such crops is expensive due to the difficult terrain.
Cannabis cultivated in Southern Nepal has also registered an increase. Districts like Parsa, Bara and Mahottari of the southern plains are the largest producers of cannabis. Most of the cannabis grown in Nepal is sent across Nepal’s porous border into the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar of India, from where it proceeds to Delhi and Mumbai, and thereon to Europe and the Middle East. Dang has evolved as a new transit point of drugs trafficking where police have seized large quantities of cannabis.
Drug trafficking is associated with cross-border crime, especially Indo-Nepal border. Nepal’s impoverished rural people are understandably tempted by the huge profits that drug cultivation brings. In Afghanistan, opium is ten times more profitable to plant than other cash crops. Drug barons are encouraging Nepali farmers to grow opium and cannabis on their land.
South Asia is both a source and a consumer of drugs, where the cultivation as well as consumption is increasing according to a 2003 UN report. It further argued that the porous borders between Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal contribute to cross-border smuggling and consequent increased availability of illicit drugs in the region. White heroine produced in Afghanistan is often trafficked through Nepal.
Criminal rackets benefit from the instability in Nepal’s transitional period, and police officers agree. The post-conflict situation is one reason why criminals have become active and are able to misuse the situation to their favor. Criminals strengthen their network by influencing key government officers, police personnel, and judicial and financial sectors of the country.
Post-conflict era is characterized by chaos, and drugs cultivation and production is increasing in conflict- affected districts. The heart of the decade-long Maoist insurgency, Rolpa, is evolving as a new haven for drugs racket. Both cultivation and production are increasing in the district and in neighboring areas. A large quantity of hashish was seized while it was being smuggled from Rolpa, where women too are found to be involved in smuggling.
It has been observed that people from poor economic backgrounds are used as carriers of illegal drugs, especially heroin. For the sake of money, they are ready to take risks. In some cases, they are ignorant of the drugs they are carrying. They are merely used as mercenaries and learn the reality upon being arrested.
Indian citizens are also active in trading brown heroine in Nepal. A number of foreigners are also arrested on the charge of involvement in illegal drug smuggling through Nepal. They enter Nepal as tourists, professional football players, and the like, and use the international airport to traffic hashish and heroin.
Organized groups have well set up networks in India and Nepal as well as in destination countries. The multiple costs involved in trafficking from one country to another is a reason behind the strength of the networks. Courier service is emerging as a new means of safe drug trafficking in Nepal. Drugs are frequently sent by courier to USA, UK, Japan, and Netherlands.
Nepal’s Terai region is fertile ground for manufacturing drugs like hashish, cannabis, and opium. The police have accepted the fact that amount of illegal drugs discovered and destroyed is insignificant, and that our intelligence agencies are not strong enough to combat illegal drug cartels.
The writer is the author of the recently published book, Crime and Money in Nepal
dipeshkc@gmail.com
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