A special court under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act on Wednesday sentenced a 53-year-old drug trafficker to 10-years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs. 2 lakh on him observing that drug traffickers are a hazard to society in general and the youth in particular.
Malad resident Ebrahim Khan was intercepted at the Sahar International Airport on June 11, 2004. He had checked in for boarding the Oman Airways to Muscat from where he was headed to Dubai. Air India security staff had alerted the Air Intelligence Unit of Customs that a passenger was likely carrying drugs in his baggage which he had sent through cargo. After passing the immigration check, Khan had reached the customs counter where he was intercepted. His baggage that was kept aside on suspicion, was searched and 9,594 buprenorphine hydrochloride injections were found in the two zipper bags. Probe found that between April 2003 and June 2004, Khan had made nearly 30 visits abroad.
“The proved offence against the accused is certainly a social menace,” the court said in its judgment while refusing a liberal view while sentencing him. “By indulging in such illicit trafficking, such drug peddlers and traffickers are a hazard to the entire society at large and to the youth in particular,” special judge Dr AA Joglekar said in his order. The court added that the offence is against the well being of society.
The law demands, it said, that such sinners and perpetrators be dealt with by the required degree of deterrence proportional to the severity of the offence committed by them. “The seized contraband would have certainly been circulated amongst the vulnerable sections of society, but for its timely capture,” it added.
The order further said that considering the nature of the offence and the threats it causes to the health and social security of the public, particularly the youth and its adverse effect on the economic, cultural and social foundations of society, it does not appear the accused deserves lenient or liberal consideration.
