Poppypura

One big name in the now-defunct opium trade is that of Jaseem, who is now 71 years old and is perhaps one of the richest in the area. Owner of a plush villa and several luxury cars, he even had plans to buy his own helicopter. Today, he is out of the opium business since people have learnt to make heroin from morphine, making quicker and higher profits.

The raw material for producing heroin is morphine. It is bought from the poppy- growing areas of Jharawal, Chittorgarh, Bhavani Mandi, Bhilwara and Kota in Rajasthan and Mandsaur, Jaura and Ratlam districts of Madhya Pradesh. Most of the morphine is brought by train by carriers who work for the drug lords. The conversion of morphine to heroin base is a simple and inexpensive process. The laboratory is made up of large cooking woks, measuring cups, funnels, filter paper, litmus paper and enamel or stainless steel pots. Heroin synthesis from morphine is completed in two steps and takes about four to six hours. "When it is ready, it is mixed with at least 70 per cent of synthetic powder because of which the profit margin is unbelievably huge. Besides heroin, the villagers also trade in brown sugar (smack)," says deputy narcotic commissioner, Vijay Kumar.

The investigating agencies say pinning down the big players is difficult. For example, though everybody speaks openly about Jaseem's decade-long involvement in the opium trade, he has never been arrested."We are helpless till we catch them red-handed, their network is so strong that the minute we plan to visit the village they all rush to their hideouts," says an official from the local police station in Zaidpur. But inspectors of the NCB are dismissive of the police itself: "There have been instances when we have reached the village for a raid and the local cops have not let us search. Heavy bribes are paid to get a posting here since one can become rich overnight."

The economic impact of the drug trade is plain to see in these villages. Almost each house, big or small, has its own power generator and everyone seems to own weapons. In many cases, profits from the drug trade are invested in legitimate businesses. Most have routed their earnings to purchase expensive cars for luxury hotels in Lucknow and Kanpur. Others have built shopping complexes and apartments in UP cities. Says a villager: "There is no poverty here. Practically everyone is rich." And it will stay that way till the law looks the other way while the labs spew the deadly venom.