15 Jan 2023  |   07:00am IST

NO DRUG GANGS & MAFIA IN GOA, says Goa’s top cop

DGP Jaspal Singh says Goa is only a consumption centre (but no word on organised activity that brings the drugs here); at the same time he said the value of seized international drugs has gone up three times

Team Herald

PANJIM: The Director General of Police Jaspal Singh has reduced Goa’s drug business to a small-time recreational touristy exercise where small quantities are brought in by travellers for their enjoyment.

Stating that Goa has become a drug consumption centre, DGP Singh said that there is no gang or mafia trading drugs operating in Goa.

He informed that the international value of the seized drugs in Goa in 2022 has increased threefold this year compared to 2021. DGP Singh said that the Goa Police have booked a lot of cases of illegal possession of drugs too. “Goa has become a supply centre for consumption which is for recreational purposes,” the DGP said.

“Terror funding through the drug trade is a macro concept. However, we have not noticed any gang or mafia in our investigation. Our analysis shows that in Goa drugs are brought in small quantities. Ganja for example will be brought in Goa in two or two-and-a-half kilogram quantities concealed in baggage,” the DGP informed.

“This is commonly seen in the States of India where there is tourism activity,” he added.

The DGP Singh also categorically mentioned that thankfully there is no influx of drugs through the coastal route.

“It has been noticed that the places which have ports which receive cargo containers are found to have become trade centres by concealing illegal goods into the containers,” he added. 

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Courier services used as conduits in trafficking drugs: Goa Police

PANJIM: The Goa Police has revealed that drug trafficking agencies and persons involved in the illicit trade use courier services as conduits. Case studies of drug seizures and arrests have revealed this.

The Director General of Police (DGP) Jaspal Singh made this statement during an interactive awareness session for courier and parcel delivery agencies in Goa to update them regarding the drug trade through their channel.

“Tourism is Goa’s highest revenue earner and if drugs keep increasing in Goa good persons and families will not be interested in coming to Goa. Hence, no police agency will succeed if people don’t provide information to the police,” he said.