The Punjab government is set to rope in the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to conduct a comprehensive study on the prevalent drug menace in the state,BSF IG (Punjab Frontier) Aditya Mishra said here on Tuesday.
Emerging out of a meeting with representatives of UNODC here on Tuesday,that saw the participation of officials from the Narcotic Control Bureau,Mishra told the media that the study would focus on social,economical and political aspects of the drug problem in Punjab,apart from studying the pattern of cross-border contraband smuggling between India and Pakistan.
UNODC in a tie-up with the Punjab health department will carry out the comprehensive study, Mishra said,adding that an array of points relating to drug smuggling was discussed in Tuesdays meeting.
The BSF IG further said discussions also centered around the role of Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in cross-border smuggling. Mishra said he told the UNODC panel that based on the pattern of past seizures,the possibility of ISIs involvement in smuggling of drugs and fake Indian currency notes could not be ruled out.
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With almost every drug seizure,we recover FICN (Fake Indian Currency Notes) and arms as well. Since,FICN is the domain of ISI only,it is very likely that agency could be behind the cross-border smuggling. Procuring a quantity of 300 kilogram of heroin from Afghanistan at a total cost of Rs 3 crore is not a big deal for the ISI, he said,adding that Pakistani agencys motive could be an attempt to destabilise the nation.
Mishra said UNODC study would go a long way helping check the problem in the state. They (UNODC) have international linkages. Then there are things like signature analysis where impurities are studied to ascertain from what area they have been taken to add to the consignment, Mishra said while underlining the importance of the proposed study.
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