Pubdate: Thu, 04 Apr 2002 Source: Times of India, The (India) Copyright: Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. 2002 Contact: http://www.timesofindia.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/453 Author: Times News Network TRAINING ON CURBING DRUG TRAFFICKING BEGINS BANGALORE: Narcotic drugs like heroin, mandrax and other precursor drugs continue to be smuggled into India from Afganistan and Pakistan. India remains a transit point for the smuggling. However, the manufacture of these drugs in Afganistan, which is a prime source for heroin, has come down. According to statistics, in the year 2000, 320 tonnes of heroin was produced, whereas in 2001, only 30 tonnes were produced. However, the problem of drug traficking continued to be a problem both in the Golden triangle - Burma, Laos, Thailand and in the Golden Crescent - Pakistan, Iran and Afganisthan. To provide training to officers of the Central Excise and Customs in dealing with such drug traficking, a national training for drug law enforcement officers of the Customs and Central Excise, Bangalore, commenced on Wednesday. The programme is part of the United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) Regional Precurosor Control Project for SAARC countries. Speaking at the inaugural, UNDCP Regional Representative Renate Ehmer explained the role of drug enforcing officers in curbing the menace. PRecursor chemicals are substances with perfectly legitimate uses in the pharmaceutical, textile, and other industries but without which narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances such as cocaine, heroin and amphetamines cannot be produced or manufactured. The traffickers have managed to divert these precursor chemicals from legitimate commerce to illicit channels and use them in the production of narcotic drugs. Chief Commisisoner of Customs and Central Excise, Bangalore, P.R.V.Ramanan said continuous training and retraining of the drug enforcing officers would help in the control and monitoring of movement of such drugs. UNDCP Regional Precursor Control Project Manager Devendra Dutt spoke on the concept of precursor control, need for regulating precursor chemicals, and on U.N. conventions of 1961, 1971 and 1988 and their relevance to precursor chemicals. Commissioner of Central Excise, Bangalore-III Lalitha John proposed a vote of thanks. - --- MAP posted-by: Alex