Explained: What Happens To Drugs After Being Seized By Police

The recent seizure of 3,000 kg of heroin, estimated to be worth over Rs 20,000 crore, at the Mundra Port in Gujarat has got every one wonder what will happen to the huge amount of drugs.

The top anti-smuggling agency Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) discovered the heroin stashed in bags topped off with talc stones, used in the manufacturing of paper and cosmetics, in two containers that arrived at Mundra Port in Gujarat state from Bandar Abbas in Iran.

According to the agency, this is the single-largest catch ever in the documented history of opiate smuggling till date and also one of the biggest consignments ever seized across the globe. Since India is positioned at the confluence of the Golden Crescent and the Golden Triangle, it has been an usual destination for drug traffickers as well as a transit point to Europe and North America.

What happens after the drugs are seized?

According to the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), during January - July this year, all types of drugs seized by various agencies, including state police, Excise, customs etc are more than 3,07,800 kilograms.

Unsplash/Representational image

Further, the data also shows that almost every hour Indian agencies or local police seize heroin and register a case against its smugglers. However, one may ask what happens after the huge amounts of drugs are seized, where do they go?

According to an Indian Express report, when India's first-ever official exercise to map the drug menace in 2015 was conducted, on the orders of the Supreme Court, it was found that of the total illegal confiscated drugs across the country over the period of 10 years only around 30% were destroyed.

Consequently, the Department of Revenue under the Union Finance Ministry had in 2015 passed an order to all state governments stating that seized drugs must be destroyed as soon as possible in order to avoid its misuse, theft or recirculation to the markets.

The order also mandated that in every state a Drug Disposal Committee consisting an officer with the rank of - Superintendent of Police, the Joint Commissioner of Customs and Central Excise and Joint Director of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence along with PCB officials must be formed in order to conduct and supervise the process of disposal without compromising the norms of the Pollution Control Board.

In a collective effort to destroy every kind of seized narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and foreign cigarettes, a special drive was conducted recently this year where these seized substances were burnt under the provisions of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) Act, 1985.

This special drive was part of last year's first ever 'All India operation' conducted around many cities like Mumbai, Patna, Shillong, Bhopal, Lucknow, Chennai and Pune where drugs and other substances were collectively destroyed.

How Bengaluru Police do it?

Like all other states, Bengaluru police also used to burn the seized drugs till 2018. However, burning drugs in huge quantities violates the rules of the NDPS Act. Therefore, in order to ensure the destruction of drugs in a more environment- friendly way, a committee of Karnataka State Pollution Control Board officials and the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime-1) as the nodal officer was formed.

The seized drugs are kept in a corner room of a building adjacent to the Bengaluru Police Commissionerate¡¯s office. Once the drugs are seized, the probe team takes photographs and makes videos for evidence purposes which is then submitted to a magistrate, who orders the disposal of these banned substances because as per the rules of 2015 order, drugs can't be destroyed without the court's order.

Also, for the drugs to be destroyed, the total possessed amount must weigh above a certain prescribed amount.

Unsplash/Representational image

Although the NDPS Act permits the auction of synthetic drugs to drug companies if they can be recycled but due to the fear of misuse, this option is generally kept aside. But if the drugs are of smaller quantities and are not synthetic ones, the police burn it in an open space close to the jurisdictional station.

Usually this process takes place at night when people are not around. Smaller quantities of synthetic drugs are stored and once there is enough to incinerate, they are also destroyed in a timely manner.