Mumbai: A Mumbai sessions court on Monday rejected the bail application of a 21-year-old accused of being part of a gang of peddlers of LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) and said that the effect of the act charged against all the accused is an important consideration as it has acted as a catalyst to spoil the young generation of this nation.
The court said, “The impact of narcotics in the life of the present generation is of such magnitude and enormity that governments across the globe have brought stringent measures to deal with trafficking and stringent punishments are also envisaged. However, despite such stringent laws, the trafficking is only on the increase, thereby spreading its arms far and wide to engulf within its fold the next generation, who are the pillars of the country and thereby destroying their life.”
Additional Sessions Judge MG Desphande further said that drug traffickers have found innovative ways to transport narcotics across the globe, which totally demolishes the lives of many persons and threatens the safety and security of our future generations. “Drug traffickers with least regard to the life and health of persons and only with a view to their own betterment distribute the narcotic drugs among the younger generations, which is the root cause of many evils that are being perpetrated by the persons under the influence of the said drugs.”
The court said their statements to the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) prima facie indicate innovative methods of all the accused in possessing, procuring, selling, trafficking drugs. It noted the huge exchange of calls between all of them as well as WhatsApp chats. It refused to consider the plea to consider the age of the accused and said it is immaterial when the offense is serious under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. “I strongly feel that once they are released, they will again indulge in same activities spoiling other young boys,” Judge Deshpande said in his order.
Neal D’Silva, a Malad resident, had been arrested in November last year. His co-accused Kerry Mendes had been apprehended by the NCB in alleged possession of 20 blots of LSD, a commercial quantity, and ganja. More arrests were followed. Probe in the case showed that the one co-accused used the dark web to procure the drugs using cryptocurrency, which then reached another member of the group who passed it to D’Silva for sale. It was D’Silva who had given it to Mendes. Mendes was to return it as it could not be sold, but he was apprehended.
