PANAJI: After a six-month hiatus, narcotics-related cases in Goa are set to be back on track after the Central Forensic Science Laboratory ( CFSL ), Hyderabad, informed Goa police that they would test seized drug samples at their lab.Earlier this year, the CFSL’s Delhi and Hyderabad units stopped accepting drug samples due to unavailability of reference material to identify them. Thus, around 22 cases pertaining to drugs like LSD MDMA , etc, hit a roadblock.Speaking to TOI, inspector general of police (IGP) Jaspal Singh said that after continuous follow-ups, the CFSL, Kolkata, has finally started accepting drug samples from Goa police. “We have already started sending drug samples to them.”Goa police have sent several letters to the CFSL’s Delhi and Hyderabad labs to compare drugs, but they didn’t respond. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) then asked the chief controller of opium to provide reference materials to CFSL, Hyderabad.A senior Goa police officer said that the anti-narcotics cell (ANC) and local police often catch peddlers and dealers with chemical drugs like LSD, MDMA, etc. He said that the drugs are sent to the lab for confirmation, but the lab isn’t in possession of reference material for comparison, which delays the disposal of cases and helps the accused get bail.In the first five months of this year, Goa police booked 88 narcotics cases and arrested 31 Goans, 49 non-Goans and 13 foreigners. Police seized MDMA, ganja, charas, LSD, ecstasy, cocaine , heroin, etc.Goa police had registered a 400% increase in drug cases in 2017 as compared to 2016 after chief minister Manohar Parrikar ordered a crackdown on the drug trade, which saw police book 161 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) and arrest 172 drugs peddlers and dealers.Of the 172, 60 are Goans, 79 are non-Goans and 26 foreigners. As per ANC statistics of the last five years, among the foreign nationals arrested in the narcotics trade, 80% have been Nigerians. Goa police have seized ganja, MDMA, cocaine, charas, LSD liquid, LSD paper, herion, amphetamine, ketamine, etc.

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