Mumbai Crime: Amidst the crackdown, peddlers are using teens

Anti-Narcotics Cell officers say they have intensified surveillance around educational institutions. Representation pic

To dodge the anti-narcotic police amid the crackdown on drug dealing in Mumbai, peddlers have started recruiting teenagers, including school-going students, to do their dirty work. For peddling their contrabands, the dealers pay some children in cash, and get others hooked on narcotics, a Crime Branch officer said.

The senior Crime Branch officer said peddlers are training teenagers, especially those from the slum pockets of the city, to conceal small drug packets in their school bags, undergarments, socks, hair, etc. "The slum-dwelling teenagers are easy targets for the peddlers," a source told mid-day. Most of those being targeted by the peddlers are school dropouts and are aged between 15 and 17.

"A few elderly women living in slum pockets of Dharavi, Sion, Kurla, Shivaji Nagar, Bandra, Malwani, Antop Hill, etc, store drugs like ganja and banned cough syrup and tablets in their shanties. These are later given to teenagers who sell the contrabands to consumers visiting the locality, or conceal them in their body and sell elsewhere," the source added.

Peddlers are training teenagers to conceal drug packets in their school bags, undergarments, socks, hair-locks, etc. Representation pic

The officers of the Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) of Mumbai police have intensified their watch around the educational institutions, but no arrests have been made so far. Most of the peddlers are Nigerians, and in some cases local residents of the area where a large consignment of drugs are sorted into small packets, police said.
Datta Nalwade, deputy commissioner of police, ANC, told mid-day, "We frequently conduct raids at suspected locations to nab the peddlers who have roped in teenagers. We are planning to spread awareness in slums to prevent kids from falling prey to drug peddlers."

Another officer said, "When we learn that a teenager is involved in illegal drug business, we take their help to nab the main supplier. Our core intention is to nail the supplier because if a big fish is caught, the small peddlers will not get drugs. "We had planned to start the awareness campaign in colleges and schools last year, but COVID-19 came in the way," the officer added.

A senior government official told mid-day they are planning to start a call centre for people to file complaint about drug-related issues. "The discussions are at a very nascent stage but it is a compelling requirement of the time as the illegal sale of drugs is on the rise in the city," said a source at Mantralaya.