Amid tightening of noose around male drug smugglers, women fill the void in illicit trade

It is hard to tell the truth without statistics. In the Gurdaspur central jail, out of a total of 106 women inmates, 95 are facing charges in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) cases.

In a Ludhiana prison, out of the 270 odd female inmates, more than 90 per cent have drug-related charges against them. “Almost all women who are being lodged in Punjab’s jails these days have drug charges slapped against them,” revealed a senior jail officer.

These statistics are alarming. But they are as true as the gospel.

This is a clear indicator of the fact that more and more women are taking up the lucrative drug trade, particularly in rural Punjab.

A majority of these women have graduated from bootlegging to selling heroin which gives them a two-pronged benefit. The powder gives them good returns and is easy to smuggle. Then there are the ones whose families have been in this trade for generations. For various reasons, it is difficult for them to extricate themselves from the “family business”. Factors like physical violence, breakdown of family structure, an abysmally low level of education in rural areas and female addicts often turning to drug peddling to satiate their cravings are the other motives.

About a decade ago, in Gurdaspur’s drug-tainted Deeda Sansian village, an autorickshaw used to be parked by the village womenfolk on the outskirts of the hamlet. Whenever a police jeep would come its way, it would start blaring the song, “Wattan ki aabroo khatre mein hai” (the honour of the nation is in danger). This was a signal for others to hide their contraband, lock their houses and run away. Women would often be asked to make “puriyas” (small paper packets used to distribute the white powder) while sitting at their homes. In this way, women were helping their menfolk, but only in a peripheral way.

The passive involvement of women is passe. Drug-enforcement officials say there has been a shift in gender roles in this underground economy. Women are no longer relegated to making “puriyas” anymore. Many of them are running their operations like well-oiled machines, from supplying and distributing dope to hiring youths for streetside retail.

Scores of Deeda Sansian villages have sprung up across Punjab. The government’s flagship programme “Yudh Nashiyan Virudh” has almost closed the doors on male smugglers. Women have stepped in to fill the vacuum. After all, nature loathes a vacuum.

Romesh Mahajan, project director of the Gurdaspur Red Cross De-addiction centre, says, “For many women, it starts with their own drug use. In this way, they are slowly sucked into the informal drug street economy.”

They obviously keep a low profile. “The more visible the female drug dealer, the more she is at risk. In fact, we face the double dangers of police suspicion and threats from men already working in the drug world,” said a woman peddler.

Sheela, a veteran of the trade, says, “With the expansion of illicit markets and the rising relationship between demand and supply, the number of women in drug trafficking has increased in the last decade or so. Moreover, there is a lot of money in circulation. It is difficult to get out of the business once you are in it.”

There are umpteen examples of how financial hardships often mingle with criminal enticement.

The most high-profile arrest in recent times has been of former Congress MLA Satkar Kaur. The police trapped her red-handed in Mohali.

The case of “Thar-Wali constable” Amandeep Kaur, an Instagram celebrity, turned out to be the proverbial tip of the iceberg. The police identified scores of women peddlers based on information provided by her.

In Punjab, officials say the role of women “mules” (carriers) is also on the rise. “The increasing tribe of women transporting heroin in urban areas and opium in rural areas is worrisome. They do not even know what they are transporting, what amount and price. All they know is how much money will they be getting,” said an officer.

These womenfolk have added a new dimension to Punjab’s drug story. They have opened up a new front for the state to tackle in its drive against narcotics. The police know it and now it is time for them to act. The fight against drug smuggling has been lost worldwide. Hopefully, Punjab bucks that trend. It always seems impossible until it is done.

Punjab