TRAINING ON CURBING DRUG TRAFFICKING BEGINS

BANGALORE: Narcotic drugs like heroin, mandrax and other precursor drugs
continue to be smuggled into India from Afganistan and Pakistan. India
remains a transit point for the smuggling. However, the manufacture of
these drugs in Afganistan, which is a prime source for heroin, has come down.

According to statistics, in the year 2000, 320 tonnes of heroin was
produced, whereas in 2001, only 30 tonnes were produced. However, the
problem of drug traficking continued to be a problem both in the Golden
triangle - Burma, Laos, Thailand and in the Golden Crescent - Pakistan,
Iran and Afganisthan.

To provide training to officers of the Central Excise and Customs in
dealing with such drug traficking, a national training for drug law
enforcement officers of the Customs and Central Excise, Bangalore,
commenced on Wednesday. The programme is part of the United Nations Drug
Control Programme (UNDCP) Regional Precurosor Control Project for SAARC
countries.

Speaking at the inaugural, UNDCP Regional Representative Renate Ehmer
explained the role of drug enforcing officers in curbing the menace.
PRecursor chemicals are substances with perfectly legitimate uses in the
pharmaceutical, textile, and other industries but without which narcotic
drugs and psychotropic substances such as cocaine, heroin and amphetamines
cannot be produced or manufactured.

The traffickers have managed to divert these precursor chemicals from
legitimate commerce to illicit channels and use them in the production of
narcotic drugs.

Chief Commisisoner of Customs and Central Excise, Bangalore, P.R.V.Ramanan
said continuous training and retraining of the drug enforcing officers
would help in the control and monitoring of movement of such drugs.

UNDCP Regional Precursor Control Project Manager Devendra Dutt spoke on the
concept of precursor control, need for regulating precursor chemicals, and
on U.N. conventions of 1961, 1971 and 1988 and their relevance to precursor
chemicals.

Commissioner of Central Excise, Bangalore-III Lalitha John proposed a vote
of thanks.