Northeast

Poppy, cannabis smugglers could face up to 20-year jail term, Rs 2 lakh fine

The NAB SP said punishments for poppy smuggling are categorised into three, based on the quantity of poppy smuggled.

ByIFP Bureau

Updated 16 Oct 2020, 2:56 am

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Anyone found carrying or smuggling poppy with a quantity above 50 kg could be either jailed for 20 years or pay a fine of Rs 2 lakh or both, Superintendent of Police, Narcotics and Affairs of Border (NAB), W Basu cautioned.

“No person can cultivate poppy or cannabis under the Act” under the ND&PS Act 1985, Basu said in an awareness video clip titled “Awareness Against Illicit Poppy/ Cannabis cultivation and Penal Provision under ND and PS Act 1985”.

The NAB SP said punishments for poppy smuggling are categorised into three, based on the quantity of poppy smuggled.

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Under section 15 of the Act, if a person is found carrying or smuggling poppy up to a quantity of one kg then under the Act the person could be either jailed for one year or pay fine of Rs 10,000 or both.

If a person is found carrying or smuggling poppy with a quantity from one kilogram to 50 kilogram then under the said Act the person could be either jailed for 10 years or pay fine of Rs one lakh or both.

To make a poppy and cannabis free state, people need to give cooperation to state police department and Narcotics and Affairs of Border (NAB), Basu said and sought cooperation from the people in the ‘war against drugs’.

In the video clip, he further said mass cultivation of poppy and cannabis are taking place in various hill areas.

Last year, the NAB destroyed six drug manufacturing laboratories, he said expressin concern that Manipur is becoming a hotspot for drug smuggling in the northeastern region. He pointed out that the farmers used common salt, fertilisers, pesticides in large scale for a better yield for poppy and cannabis. Using of such fertilisers, common salt and pesticides has affected soil quality of some hill areas, he said.

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Besides, deforestation is being carried out in large scale for cultivation of poppy and cannabis. As an impact soil erosion, land slide are frequenting in addition to the impact on ecological balance. Section 2 of the Forest Conservation Act 1980 strictly prohibits to carry out non-forest activity in forest land and under section 3 of the Act a person can be jailed for three years if the person violates the Act, he added.

With mass deforestation and non-forest activities in hill areas due to poppy and cannabis cultivation,  ecological balance is being affected and people need to take initiatives by reporting to state police department or NAB to save the environment and to curb the drug menace, said Basu.
He also highlighted that under section 18 of ND and PS Act 1985, if a person is found carrying or smuggling upto 100 gram of opium, the person could be either jailed for one year or pay fine of Rs 10,000 or both.

For 100 gram to 2.5 kilogram the person could either jailed for 10 years or pay fine of Rs one lakh or both. If found with 2.5 kilogram and above the person could either jailed for 20 years or pay fine of Rs two lakhs or both.

If a person is found carrying or smuggling cannabis from minimum quantity upto one kilogram, the person could be jailed for one year or pay fine of Rs 10,000 or both.

For the quantity from one kilogram but less than 20 kilogram, the person could either jailed for 10 years or pay fine of Rs one lakh or both.
If a person is found with a quantity of 20 kilogram and above then the person could either jailed for 20 years or pay fine of Rs 2 lakhs or both.
Moreover, land owner who is allowing cultivation of poppy and cannabis will be jailed for six months under ND and PS Act 1985 section 46, the SP added

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Tags:

narcoticsNABpoppycannabisND&PS Act 1985

IFP Bureau

IFP Bureau

IMPHAL, Manipur

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