Over 340 kg of psychotropic drugs valued at over ₹500 crore disposed of at Ambalamedu

In a first-of-its-kind initiative under the purview of the Kochi zonal office of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), 340.50 kg of drugs, valued approximately over ₹500 crore, were disposed of at the common biomedical waste treatment plant of Kerala Enviro Infrastructure Limited (KEIL) at Ambalamedu.

In a first-of-its-kind initiative under the purview of the Kochi zonal office of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), 340.50 kg of drugs, valued approximately over ₹500 crore, were disposed of here on Friday.

The over-two-hour-long procedure was held at the common biomedical waste treatment plant of Kerala Enviro Infrastructure Limited (KEIL) at Ambalamedu. Union Home Minister Amit Shah made a virtual appearance from Bengaluru, while members of the High-level Drug Disposal Committee (HDDC) drawn from various enforcement agencies were present.

Among the drugs disposed of were 337 kg of heroin seized by the NCB from a Sri Lankan vessel off the coast of Kochi in April 2021 and 3.5 kg of hashish oil meant for Bahrain and seized from a courier company in Kochi the same year.

“Drugs disposed of here were part of the 9,200-kg disposed of nationwide as part of the Drug Disposal Day observance on Friday. The contraband seized both by the Central and State agencies was estimated worth ₹1,235 crore,” said Monica Ashish Batra, Deputy Director General, NCB, Kolkata.

The Union government had issued a notification for disposal of drugs last year when it was launched on June 26, observed as the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. So far, 1.30 lakh kg of drugs have been disposed of, while the target is to touch 1.50 lakh kg by June 26 this year.

“We are organising regular disposal of drugs as pre-trial disposal, albeit subject to strict norms, including court permission and certification, is permissible now unlike in the past,” said Ms. Batra.

The government notification had specifically mentioned the norms for disposal of different varieties of drugs by the Regular Drugs Disposal Committee (RDDC) and the HDDC.