A Himalayan High

Avgal,like the other villages in the remote reaches of Parvati valley such as Chanderkhani,Bheland,Thisco,Waichin and Seinj,has always had small-time farmers growing cannabis. Whats different this time is the scale and audacityall this cultivation is being done on government land,either forest or revenue land,that has been encroached upon by the druglords.

In 2006,the area under cannabis cultivation in Kullu valley was 600 hectares and that under opium was 100 hectares. The figures for this year are 1,500 hectares for cannabis and over 1,000 hectares for opium.

This harvest season the crop is sown in February and harvested in September,the region got a bumper crop. The total cannabis yield this year could be 60,000 kg; four years ago,it was 21,000 kg. And the opium yield is expected to touch 30,000 kg; four years ago,it was 2,500 kg.

State DGP Daljit Minhas,who took over as Himachals police chief over three months ago,is aware of both the the extent of the trade and the polices inability to check it. Drug control is our priority. We are making consistent efforts. It is an ongoing process, he says.

He has a fight on his hands. The fields are located at such heights that it is extremely difficult for the police to reach them. The attitude of local politicians doesnt help either. Many of states leading politicians have publicly spoken about the need to legalise cannabis cultivation.

To increase the yield and the quality of the produce,the drug syndicates have introduced hybrid varieties of cannabis seeds. These include AK-47Afghanistan,Black Mist Kazakhstan,Parbadi and a variety of Malana. The hybrid is different from the ordinary crop in many ways. The Tetra Hydro Carbinol THC contentwhich is what gives the kickin the hybrid variety is higher than what it is in the traditional cannabis weed. In the hybrid,it ranges from 21 to 30 per cent,whereas its content in traditional seeds is between 1 and 12 per cent. So,the top hybrid hash in India fetches about Rs 1 lakh a kg,while the going rate for even the best local hash is

Rs 25,000 a kg. If supplied with opium,the deal becomes even more lucrative.

Bombay Climax is the industrys most recent invention. A concoction of heroin and a strain of hash that has THC content of over 20 per cent,its known to give a spectacularand sometimes fatalhigh. Nineteen-year-old Adam Coombs,son of former Tory MP and UK-based businessman Derek Coombs,who was found dead in a guest house in Manali a couple of months ago,is said to have died of an overdose.

Opium cultivation in this region is becoming worrisome. Estimates suggest that 16 per cent of the entire arable land in Kullu is under illegal narcotic cultivation. Drugs worth Rs 700 crore find their way to the international market from Kullu, says O P Sharma,former Superintendent of Narcotics Control Bureau NCB who undertook several drug busting drives in the region in 2006.

The state police is aware of the foreign hand in the business. A recent report prepared by the state CID indicated that druglords from six nations are involved in the trade in Kullu valley. But the problem is that these drug barons do not necessarily visit Indiatheir agents come,distribute money liberally among local goons,farm labourers,security staff,harvesters and carriers. A henchman is then appointed to take care of the entire set up and business.

The route,the destination

Sixty per cent of all the hash made from cannabis that is grown in Kullu valley is headed to international markets. The main destinations are Israel,Italy,United Kingdom and Holland. Of the remaining 40 per cent,20 per cent goes to well-heeled patrons in Mumbai and Delhi. About 10 per cent goes to other popular tourist spots,particularly Goa,where the price of the hash is five times that of its original worth in Kullu.

Barely 10 per cent remains for the local narco-tourists. The clientele is drawn from the approximately 26,000 foreign tourists mainly Europeans and Israelis who visit the valley every year. The market for narcotics is primarily in the Kullu region. Most of the tourists who come here are young junkies,who dont have the sort of deep pockets that patrons in Mumbai or Europe have. In fact,the hash that is sold in Kullu comes from places as far as Nepal,but is locally sold as Malana cream, says a hash trader.

The journey of Indias illegal drug trade begins from Kullu in Himachal,goes to Delhi and then further to Mumbai,from where it takes off abroad. At every stage,there are various carriers or conduits. The modus operandi can vary from the simplest to the most ingenious one, says N Venugopal,DIG,CID,Himachal Pradesh.

The drugs are stuffed in car fenders,put in laptop battery sockets and with apple consignments. There are also pneumatic machines that insert the hash inconspicuously in chocolates and toffees,tins of fruit jams,ghee and other condiments.

There are more carriers in Kullu than there are cultivators. In some cases,they have been employed by big cultivators. Some of them offer their services for a fee and also ask for insurance,in case they are arrested. Their job is to make sure the drugs reach Delhi,where the big gangs take over. Its mostly taken in batches of 4-5 kg, says a trader.

As it moves on,the stuff keeps getting expensive. For example,even the ordinary hash available at Rs 25,000 a kg in Kullu is sold at over

Rs 50,000 in Delhi,Rs 75,000 in Mumbai and over Rs 1 lakh in Goa.

Countering the trade

From Kullu,the main carriers are the Nepalese workers or poor locals. Arrests are rare,convictions even rarer. In the decade starting 2000,barely 959 cases were registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances NDPS Act.

Joseph Kurien,Chief Justice of Himachal High Court,says,The conviction rate under NDPS for a long period was barely 8 per cent. Only recently has it gone up to 33 per cent.

Even when arrests are made,the culprits escape with small punishments. Sharma,the former NCB superintendent,explains,Someone caught carrying narcotics can end up in jail for anything between six months to 20 years. But often,the law enforcement authority connives with the culprit and he gets away with a mild punishment.

However,law enforcement agencies say they cant do much because they are under-staffed. K K Indoria,Superintendent of Police,Kullu,has about 600 policemen working with him. Some are on court duty,some are on leave,some are on VIP duty,some have to remain in police stations. And well,narcotics is not the only law and order problem in Kullu, he says.

The Himachal government has now decided to include uprooting of cannabis and opium plants under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. State DGP Daljit Minhas says the strategy has been successful in Chamba and is now being replicated in other districts such as Mandi. But its efficacy in controlling the hi-tech organised trade and cultivation in Kullu is still doubtful.

For one,opium trade in Kullu has some local support. The gangs running the fields often employ locals and in the harvest season,workers earn as much as Rs 700 a day. In the absence of alternative employment,the wages offered by drug gangs are a big lure for the villagers.

Ten per cent of Kullus population is directly or indirectly involved in the drug trade. In many instances,villagers,acting on instructions from drug dealers who dont want the outside world to access their fields,have resisted government moves to build roads to their villages. The villagers admit they support cannabis cultivation simply because there is no alternative. This year in Malana,a few NGOs stepped in to encourage villagers to grow peas instead of cannabis. Now,the government is trying to work with non-governmental organisations and local villagers to find a lasting solution to the problem.