1 gram of heroin in Punjab is now up to Rs 5,000 from 1,500 earlier, two young men say
In Phase 6 of Mohali, on the outskirts of Chandigarh, two 25-year-old men tell NDTV about the changing face of Punjab's drug fixation.
"It is getting tougher to get stuff (heroine) in here, and the prices have also increased, so we get it from Delhi now," they say.
A gram of heroin in Punjab is now up to Rs 5,000, while it was about Rs 1,500-2,000 earlier, they say. "In Delhi it is just Rs 1,200."
"Some eight of us went last week to Delhi to get (heroin). In Uttam Nagar, there is a Nigerian who gives it at a good rate," the two say.
When asked how much drugs they bought, they said they spent Rs 26,000.
The reason for the shortage is unclear. Data on seizures from India's Drugs Control Bureau shows that the seizure of heroin in Punjab has fallen by almost 41 per cent from 2014 to now.
The Punjab government would like to claim credit, saying it is because its newly formed STF, a special task force on narcotics, is cutting off the entry of drugs into Punjab.
But the data shows that heroin seizures had started falling even before.
Regardless of the reasons, Delhi, we were told again and again is the new source for cheaper heroin.
The young men we met in Chandigarh gave us the contact details of their supplier in Delhi, a Nigerian national who goes by the name of Prince. He operates out of the Southwest Delhi's neighborhood of Uttam Nagar.
NDTV tracked him down and a meeting is fixed. We knock at the gate of where we are led to, the small window opens, asks us for money and hands over two packets.
What we are given is not heroin: its tablets, and hash.
We tell Prince we need something more potent, like heroin.
He says this mix is as good; when we insist, he gets a bit suspicious and asks us to go back now and call later.
Prince didn't answer NDTV's calls afterwards, but this is a classic example of just how easily drugs are available in the national capital, if you just know the right person.