Source: 2002
Released by the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs
I. Summary
India is one of the world's largest licit opium producers and the only country authorized to produce licit opium gum. India's strategic location, between Southeast and Southwest Asia, the two main sources of illicit opium, makes it a heroin transshipment area. India is a modest, but growing, producer of heroin for the illicit market. The Government of India (GOI) continually tightens controls to curtail diversion of licit opium, but an unknown quantity of licit opium finds its way to illicit markets. A small amount of illegal poppy is cultivated in the foothills of the Himalayas in northwest India, and also in northeastern India. As part of its efforts to preclude diversion of licitly grown opium to the illicit market, the GOI, with U.S. assistance, is rigorously studying opium gum yields from licitly cultivated opium. The objective of this effort is to develop as accurate an estimate of legally mandated minimum yields as possible. The GOI anticipates, based on its long experience of managing licit opium production, that requiring farmers to deliver to the government all the opium they are likely to produce is the best way to avoid diversion to the illicit market. An accurate estimate of what farmers are likely to harvest, therefore is crucial to the success of this system since it allows the government to more efficiently enforce its requirement that all opium gum be sold to the state.
There is some evidence of growing international criminal interest in hashish production in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. GOI central government agencies do not currently believe this is a major problem.
India has a large, sophisticated chemical industry that manufactures a wide range of chemicals, including the narcotics precursor chemicals acetic anhydride (AA) and pseudoephedrine. These precursor chemicals are vulnerable to diversion for the manufacture of illicit narcotics. The GOI and the Indian Chemical Manufacturing Association impose strict controls and review them annually. India is a party to the 1998 UN Drug Convention.
II. Status of Country
Licit Opium Production. Licit opium poppy is grown in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh under a stringent licensing policy controlled by the Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN). India is the only country that produces raw opium gum rather than concentrate of poppy straw (CPS). Although many opium factories in the U.S. are designed to process opium gum, opium gum is difficult to use because a residue remains after alkaloids have been extracted. This residue must be disposed of with appropriate environmental safeguards, adding to the cost of medicinal opiates. However, the GOI believes that this traditional labor-intensive opium production method is more suitable to India's circumstances than the more capital-intensive poppy straw process.
Under the terms of internationally agreed covenants, India must maintain licit opium production and carry-over stocks at levels no higher than those consistent with world demand. The objective is to avoid excessive production and stockpiling, which could be diverted into illicit markets. India has complied with this requirement and succeeded in rebuilding stocks over the past three years from below-recommended levels.
Licensed farmers are allowed to cultivate a maximum of 20 "ares" (1 are is 100 square meters, so 20 ares equals one-fifth of a hectare) and are required to remit their entire yield to the CBN. The GOI's Ministry of Finance announces the minimum-qualifying yield (MQY) per hectare (ha) at the beginning of each opium cultivation season in September or October. "Opium years" thus straddle two calendar years. The MQYs are based on historical yield levels from licensed farmers during previous crops, and increasingly on academic research in India, funded by U.S. technical assistance. Increasing the annual MQY has proven to be an effective tool, not only in increasing productivity, but also in providing a deterrent to diversion. The GOI cannot know how much opium gum each farmer actually produces; it simply requires that each farmer deliver at least some minimum amount (MQY) to retain his status in the program. If this Minimum Qualifying Yield is too low, the farmers are allowed to systematically retain a large quantity of opium gum which, of course, finds its way to the illicit market. Thus, an accurate estimate of the MQY is crucial to the success of the Indian licit production control regime.
India's opium buffer stocks were depleted in the spring of 1998. To meet anticipated world demand for licit opium and rebuild depleted domestic stockpiles toward an International Narcotics Control Board (INCB)-recommended level of approximately 750 metric tons (90 percent solid), the GOI licensed a larger number of farmers and increased the area for poppy cultivation during 1998-99 and 1999-2000. Estimates of suspected diversion from the 1998-99 opium harvest ranged from 170 metric tons to as high as 300 metric tons, which would have represented between 15 to 25 percent of the entire crop.
Steps taken in the next crop year seemed to fix this problem. The higher implied yield in GOI-procured opium gum during the 1999-2000 season reflected the GOI's apparent success in aggressively curtailing diversion during the crop harvest and collection period. Strong enforcement efforts were also evident during the 2000/01 and 2001/02 harvests.
For the 2002 crop year, 114,487 cultivators were licensed for opium cultivation over an area of about 22,847 hectares. Only 18,447 hectares were cultivated by 101,844 cultivators. The uncultivated area was either not sown or uprooted after sowing, primarily because of weather damage. Only those cultivators who tendered the minimum qualifying yield (MQY) for the 2000/01 harvest were licensed in 2001/02 and the GOI did not tender new licenses for first-time cultivators. The GOI again increased the MQY in the 2001/02 crop year to 53 kilograms/hectare in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan and 45 kilograms/hectare in Uttar Pradesh. These goals appear to have been largely met, based on both CBN data (which is supported by data from the U.S supported Joint Licit Opium Poppy Survey). As a result, in 2002, the CBN procured 790 metric tons of opium (at 90 percent consistency NB. "Consistency" refers to the moisture content in opium gum-90 percent means 10 percent excess moisture-90 percent gum). The CBN attributes their success to increased controls over licit cultivation, including the reduction in time taken to procure opium (i.e., the time to collect the hundreds of metric tons of opium gum at hundreds of collection facilities throughout three Indian provinces), which was reduced from 60 days to 45 days.
The GOI continued the stricter licit opium diversion controls introduced in 1999, including 100 percent measurement of each cultivated area and re-surveys of plots after the planted crop reaches a particular stage of growth to ensure that the area under cultivation matches that licensed. The CBN destroys cultivation more than five percent above the licensed amount and the cultivator is liable to prosecution. CBN also strengthened controls during the poppy lancing period. A designated official now records daily yields in a "Procurement/Weighment Register." The CBN checks the register regularly, physically checks the cultivators' yield, and verifies the correlation between the two.
The CBN conducts preventive checks and raids to search for opium that might have been concealed by the cultivators. During the course of these raids CBN officers discovered 11 tons of concealed opium during the 2000 harvest and seven tons during 2001. To increase control over licit opium production, the amended NDPS Act places offenses relating to cultivation and embezzlement of opium by licensed cultivators on par with other drug trafficking offenses. CBI initiated the use of satellite surveys in 2001 and refined the method in 2002 to measure licit cultivation to ensure that licit cultivators were not exceeding their allotted space. No significant quantities of concealed opium were seized during the 2001/2002 harvest.
India's traditional style of harvesting opium gum has an inherent weakness in controlling diversion. Over one million farmers and farm workers come into contact with the poppy plants and their lucrative gum yearly. Policing these farmers on privately held land scattered throughout three of India's largest states is a considerable challenge for the CBN, which has a permanent staff of 1,500 officers. During the harvest season, CBN's forces of 18 teams of Central Excise officers with vehicles help the CBN to patrol the fields and oversee the harvest.
Though there is no reliable estimate of diversion from India's licit opium industry, Indian officials and drug enforcement officials have speculated in estimating that 10 to 30 percent of the crop is diverted. A large portion of the diverted opium is consumed domestically. CBN has estimated that India's opium addicts alone require a minimum of 80 to 100 tons of opium. Ten percent diversion of the 2002 harvest would have put some 79 tons of opium gum into the illicit narcotics markets, and would have made India the world's fourth largest producer of illegal opiates, ca. 25 metric tons behind Laos.
Illicit opium middlemen and moneylenders pay farmers prices four to five times higher than the base government price of Indian Rupees (Rs.) 630 per kilogram. GOI price increases to farmers are related to the licit export price offered by the United States and other countries, but are also influenced by GOI revenue requirements from licit opium production. Citing stable commercial export prices and an apparent decrease in export demand, the GOI announced prices would not be increased for the second year in a row. The last increase was effective for the 2000 opium harvest. Some observers believe that more generous procurement prices would support GOI efforts to limit diversion. India is exploring the possibility of conversion of some of its opium crop to the CPS method to determine the feasibility of extracting additional alkaloids from already-lanced poppy straw.
III. Country Action Against Drugs in 2002
Policy Initiatives. In 2001, the GOI announced that the NCB would shift from under the control of the Ministry of Finance to the Ministry of Home Affairs effective April 1, 2002. The move is still pending. The move should enhance the NCB's law enforcement capabilities and align the bureau with other GOI police agencies under the control of the Home Ministry. A number of proposals are also under consideration to bolster the professionalism of the NCB, including extending the length of deputation of officers to the NCB from three to five years, and adding an extension clause for an additional two years.
Accomplishments. Indian authorities have established a continuous aerial/satellite-based system for monitoring licit and illicit opium cultivation nationwide. The system became operational in early 2002. The CBN has initiated a special project to explore income substitution and alternative development programs with the aim of total eradication of poppy cultivation in the illicit poppy growing areas of Arunachal Pradesh.
Currently, the GOI is involved in a number of significant ongoing investigations with the DEA and the level of cooperation received regarding these investigations has been excellent.
Law Enforcement Efforts. India's domestic "drug of choice" is heroin base ("brown sugar" heroin). Indian "brown sugar" heroin is available in Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. In 2001, the CBN detected and destroyed seven small-scale refining laboratories in India's licit opium poppy growing regions. Since January 1999, Indian authorities have begun to seize small quantities of refined ("white") heroin, at least part of which was produced in India, destined for Sri Lanka and Europe. Licitly produced raw opium is diverted and collected by mid-level traffickers for conversion to morphine base. The opium is then usually taken to larger population centers for further processing to heroin base before entering the regional markets. Indigenously produced Indian white heroin (injectable heroin HCL) seizures increased during the last several years. This became more evident with the November 30, 1999 seizure of an operational heroin laboratory in New Delhi and the discovery of Indian-cultivated opium being used to manufacture heroin HCL. Continuing intelligence stemming from ongoing investigations indicates that areas in Uttar Pradesh State may produce limited quantities of indigenous Indian heroin. Such trends indicate nascent attempts to cater to western heroin markets that demand refined heroin as opposed to brown sugar heroin. GOI officials estimate that approximately 30 percent of their heroin seizures are of Indian origin and acknowledge India's emerging status as a heroin-producing country.
Heroin Production. There is no reliable data on the amount of heroin produced from diverted licit opium and illegally grown opium. Illicit poppies are cultivated in the Himalayan foothills of Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh and in northeast India near the Burmese border in the states of Manipur, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. The quantities of illicit production appear relatively small and there is little current indication that such opiates find their way into the export market for the United States.
The GOI continues actively to pursue investigations against drug traffickers operating within India and to interdict the flow of narcotics being smuggled across its borders. In October 2001, the Customs Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officers seized 16 kilograms of heroin that had entered India through a fenced portion of the border. Provisional reports provided by the GOI through October 2002 indicated that an estimated 636 kilograms of heroin were seized. Opium seizures determined to be of Indian origin, most of which occur in India's poppy growing regions, declinedin 2002 from 2,633 kilograms in 2001 to 1,403 kilograms through October 2002. Cannabis smuggled from Nepal is mainly consumed within India, but some makes its way to western destinations. Through October 2002, NCB seized 47,641 kilograms of marijuana and 2,079 kilograms of hashish. During 2001, Customs officers at New Delhi airport experienced first-time seizures of buprenorphine, diazepam, and phenobarbitol. Seizures of methalqualone (mandrax) reached their highest level of 11,130 kilograms through October 2002. Indian authorities speculate that heroin seizures may be down because the tightening of the border between Pakistan and India has led to a change in trafficking patterns for Southwest Asian heroin.
Through October 2002, 4,747 persons, including 55 foreigners, had been arrested for drug-related offences, a figure that is down significantly from 13,333 arrested in 2001. Through October 2002, 2,998 persons were convicted for drug trafficking, compared to 2,929 convictions in 2001.
Corruption. The Indian media continues allegations of corruption among law enforcement personnel, elected politicians, and cabinet-level ministers of the GOI. The United States receives reports of narcotics-related corruption, but lacks the information to confirm them and the means to assess the overall scope of drug corruption in India. Both the CBN and the NCB have periodically taken steps to punish corrupt officials within their ranks. The CBN frequently transfers officials in key drug producing areas and has increased the transparency of paying licensed opium farmers to prevent corruption. However, despite government efforts, narcotics-related corruption probably facilitates some narcotics trafficking in India.
Agreements and Treaties. India is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention, the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs as amended by the 1972 Protocol, and the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances. India meets most of the requirements of these three UN Drug Conventions through the NDPS Act of 1988. India has agreements with 15 countries for sharing strategic and operational intelligence and cooperation in the field of drug abuse. The United States and India signed a mutual legal assistance treaty on October 17, 2001; the U.S. Senate provided advice and consent to ratification in October 2002. The treaty will allow more efficient law enforcement and counterterrorism cooperation between the two countries. The U.S. and India cooperate under an extradition treaty that entered into force in 1999. There are currently two narcotics-related extradition requests pending in Indian courts under the treaty.
Illicit Cultivation/Production. Small-scale illicit cultivation of opium has existed for years in areas of India's northeast, usually along the region's border with Burma and China. Cultivation in easily accessible areas of Mizoram and Manipur was successfully eliminated in the early- and mid-1990s, although poppy cultivation is experiencing a recent revival in Manipur, according to CBN officials. The bulk of India's illicit cultivation is now confined to Arunachal Pradesh, the most remote of northeastern states, which has no airfields and few roads.
The CBN began organized poppy eradication campaigns in Arunachal Pradesh four years ago. In the first campaign, addressed to the 1997 opium crop, the CBN destroyed 35 hectares. This increased to 95 hectares in 1998, and 248 hectares in 1999. In 2000, 153 hectares were destroyed. No new crop eradication occurred in either 2001 or the first ten months of 2002. The CBI used satellite images to detect illicit cultivation in the Northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh. Most of the illicit opium is grown to meet the needs of local addicts, a sizeable population.
The CBN, however, is concerned that production is rising, with an increasing percentage used for commercial purposes, for sale locally or to heroin producers across the Burma border. Current rough estimates by the local drug control officials put opium cultivation in Arunachal Pradesh at 1,500 to 2,000 hectares. Estimates of opium gum yields are nonexistent, but CBN officials believe that the illicit production in Arunachal Pradesh yields at least eight kilograms per hectare (12-16 metric tons potential illicit opium gum production).
Drug Flow/Transit. India historically has been an important transit area for Southwest Asia heroin from Afghanistan and Pakistan and, to a much lesser degree, from Southeast Asia--Burma, Thailand, and Laos. India's heroin seizures from these two regions continue to provide evidence of India's transshipment role. Most heroin transiting India appears bound for Europe. Seizures of Southwest Asian heroin made at New Delhi and Mumbai airports tend to reinforce this assessment. Increasingly significant seizures in the southern area of India, particularly in Tamil Nadu, confirm that smuggling of heroin from India to Sri Lanka continues unabated. While there appears to be no significant level of increase in heroin trafficking directly to the United States from India, both U.S. and Indian authorities continue to target organizations involved in this activity.
Indian-produced methaqualone trafficking to Southern and Eastern Africa continues. Although South Africa is rapidly becoming a larger competitor, India is still believed to be among the world's largest known clandestine producers of methaqualone (mandrax). The primary market for Indian-produced methaqualone was South Africa, but other African countries have increasingly developed user/abuser problems as the drug shipments transit east Africa en route to South Africa. This drug is manufactured in bulk powder as well as tablet form, but recent bulk seizures by GOI authorities suggest India is playing a more important role in methaqualone manufacture. In March 2001, the NCB seized 400 kilograms of mandrax/methaqualone tablets in Mumbai after searching an export container destined for South Africa. Seizures of methaqualone totaled 1,984 kilograms in 2001. Seizures of methaqualone through October 2002 totaled 11,130 kilograms, the highest seizure ever and almost ten times the average amount seized in the past five years.
Domestic Programs (Demand Reduction). In the isolated northeastern states of Manipur and Nagaland, injectable Southeast Asian heroin use was common a few years ago. Needle sharing spread the HIV virus through these two sparsely-populated states, which now rank among the states with India's highest HIV/AIDS rate. While heroin use is still significant in Northeast India, its high cost ($2 a dose and higher) resulted in a shift to abuse of the painkiller proxyvon (about 34 cents a dose). (Proxyvon capsules are opened, the contents dissolved in water, and then injected.) In 1999, the GOI's Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MSJE) and the UNDCP South Asia Regional Office began a two-year large-scale national survey on the extent, pattern, and magnitude of drug abuse in India. The major components of this study are a National Household Survey, a Drug Abuse Monitoring System and a Rapid Assessment Survey (RAS). The study also focused on specific populations such as women, rural and border areas, and prisoners. The RAS was implemented in fourteen cities throughout India, four of which are major cities.
The survey showed that drug users were predominantly young and male. More than a fourth were homeless, nearly half were unmarried, more than a fifth were illiterate, and a fifth had studied only up to the primary level. About two-thirds of those surveyed were employed, mostly in the informal sector as daily wage earners. The average monthly income in the sample was Rs.4,050 (about $90). Many drug users, particularly those in large cities, are from impoverished families. The mean age of drug users across the fourteen sites was 23-24. The highest percentage of women drug users was found in Goa (20 percent).
The majority of those surveyed (36 percent) reported heroin (morphine base, i.e. "brown sugar," usually smoked) as their primary drug of abuse. Other opiates (buprenorphine, propoxyphne, and opium) accounted for 29 percent and cannabis 22 percent. Most subjects were polydrug abusers and were part of strong networks of drug-using friends and associates. More than three-fourths of the total began drug use before they turned twenty. The average user began with cannabis, although a third used alcohol as the initiation substance. Injecting drug use was adopted later in the drug abuse pattern. Injecting drug use (IDU) was observed in every study. A large share of the total (43 percent) admitted to injecting drugs at some point in their drug using history, most frequently injecting buprenorphine, heroin, proxyvon and other synthetic opiates like pentazocine. The survey also noted unsafe sex as another high-risk behavior. The mean age at first sexual act ranged from fourteen to twenty-two. Many users indicated encounters with sex workers, but condom use was low. Sexually transmitted diseases were common among drug users in many sites. Only a small proportion of drug users surveyed had been tested for HIV.
Experts have formulated suggestions for intervention strategies based on the survey. The suggestions include: 1) enhancing behavior change; 2) producing changes in service delivery; 3) facilitating a community-based approach; 4) encouraging community participation; and 5) facilitating changes in the environment. The key issues of concern are: targeting services for poor drug users; preventing drug injecting; reducing drug related harm, particularly the association between high risk drug and sexual activities; improving treatment services; and increasing "quality coverage" (i.e., providing treatment services for the majority of drug users). The MSJE recently worked with the demand reduction community to establish therapeutic standards for drug abuse treatment and rehabilitation.
IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs
Bilateral Cooperation. The United States has a close and cooperative relationship with the GOI on counternarcotics issues. Drug control cooperation expanded in 2001, building on several new initiatives launched in 2000. The Department of State's Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement provided increased commodities and training assistance to Indian drug enforcement agencies, with a $200,000 project signed with the Ministry of Finance in September 2000. A FY 2001 project for $300,000 to be signed with the Ministry of Finance has not yet been signed because of differences between the USG and GOI regarding one of the standard provisions. If this LOA is signed, this assistance would boost the drug enforcement capacities of various Indian agencies, providing equipment to the 11 NCB zonal units operating throughout India and to the Mizoram state government to counter drug and chemical trafficking across that state's border with Burma. Cooperation between the DEA and Indian drug enforcement authorities is expanding, particularly in investigations into precursor chemicals smuggled from India to key drug production areas.
The Road Ahead. The GOI has tightened controls over licit opium cultivation. Post 9/11, U.S.-GOI cooperation increased significantly as the GOI and USG moved forward to combat drug trafficking and transnational crime. The Ministry of Finance, the GOI lead for policy on drug control, is more actively shaping and coordinating drug and licit opium control strategies among India's various drug enforcement agencies. The Ministry will continue to be the United States' focal point for cooperative counternarcotics efforts. The GOI says it is increasingly concerned over the nexus between drug trafficking and terrorism. The GOI has recognized the need for stronger drug control efforts nationally, particularly in the Northeast. The United States will continue to explore opportunities to work with the GOI in addressing drug trafficking and production and other transnational crimes of common concern.
India continues to be a focal point for the procurement of diverted chemicals in South Asia. It is a producer of ephedrine, pseudoephedrine and acetic anhydride, sought for amphetamine, methamphetamine and heroin manufacture in Burma and heroin manufacture in Afghanistan.
India is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention, but it does not have controls on all the chemicals listed in the convention. There are controls on the chemicals most likely to be diverted, ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, acetic anhydride, and N-acetylanthranilic acid, all chemicals listed in the convention. The Indian Government has proposed controls on anthranillic acid, since it has been misused in the manufacture of methalqualone (mandrax). India is a major source of methalqualone illicitly exported to Africa, especially South Africa, and seizures of illicit methalqualone exports have increased sharply in the past few years.
The Government of India has made significant progress in controlling the production and export of controlled chemicals. There is a system of letters of no objection from the importing country to regulate exports of controlled chemicals. Imports of acetic anhydride also require no-objection certificates issued by the Central Bureau of Narcotics.
Indian authorities have been very cooperative with the U.S. on letters of no objection and verification of end-users, especially with regard to ephedrine and pseudoephedrine. Information is shared between Indian and U.S. authorities and India is a participant in Operations Purple and Topaz and Project Prism. India co-chairs the steering committee for Operation Topaz.