India is turning into hub of illegal ephedrine trade, says report

South India is a major centre for trafficking ephedrine to other countries, mainly through the airports of Delhi, Chennai, Kochi and Bengaluru

The annual report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), which examines the global drug control situation and makes recommendations to governments and international organisations, came out on March 5. It covers events of 2017 and reveals facts about the impact of legalisation of cannabis. The report has some interesting data about India and the trade in ephedrine.

Ephedrine is a drug and over-the-counter trade of it is banned in India. Consequently, it is a prized contraband commodity. Overseas, it is used to treat asthma and bronchitis. While controlled dosage eases breathing, its abuse, popularly in the powder form, is known to cause euphoria, hallucinations, delusions, hypertension and nausea. It is synthesised to produce the popular narcotic methamphetamine.

Notable seizures in 2017 included 260 kg of ephedrine manufactured in a clandestine laboratory on the premises of a chemicals supplier in Karnataka. In another instance, 179 kg of ephedrine was seized from an illicit laboratory in Hyderabad. The ephedrine was found at a chemical factory in an industrial part of the city that the suspects had leased for 15 days by providing false information to the owner. The total value of one seizure in Maharashtra alone was valued at around Rs 2,000 crore.

South India (mainly Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai) is a major centre for trafficking ephedrine to other countries, mainly through the airports of Delhi, Chennai, Kochi and Bengaluru. Malaysia is the main destination country, followed by countries in Africa, including South Africa and Zambia. Trafficking in ephedrine across the border between India and Myanmar is linked with the reverse trafficking in methamphetamine.

The recent increase in the illicit manufacture of methamphetamine in India is linked to international criminal groups. Manufacturing takes place in the Mumbai region, with the possible involvement of pharmaceutical companies in Maharashtra and Gujarat. Another manufacturing area is south India. Much of the methamphetamine is smuggled abroad. 

In June 2018, authorities disposed of more than 20 tonnes of ephedrine and 2.5 tonnes of acetic anhydride in what is considered to be the biggest drug disposal event to date. The data for 2018 is still being compiled.

Sources: Annual report 2018, International Narcotics Control Board, Media reports, National Crime Records Bureau