Dirty bombs and drugs

Containers are the weak link in the global maritime supply chain. But why is India delaying a solution to this high security risk?

Vijay Sakhuja Delhi

It their first such haul of drugs, the Delhi Police seized from a drug dealer, about 4,400 kg of the drug Mandrax meant for customers in the US and South Africa. The modus operandi by the dealer involved befriending container trailer drivers and once they had driven past customs, the vehicle was stopped at a secluded spot some distance from the Inland Container Depot (ICD), Tughlakabad, and pilfered. A few days earlier, the police recovered 100 kg of drug Ephedrine. Such quick interceptions of large quantities of drugs highlight that there is a huge drug market in Delhi. But authorities believe that Delhi is not the final destination, it serves as a transit point for drugs routed from Afghanistan.

This drug haul has highlighted the vulnerabilities of the container transportation system in India and the role of the ICDs, in this case ICD Tughlakabad. This ICD is the largest dry port in South Asia and the leading centre for box traffic transportation. Among the major items transported through this dry port are machinery, electronic goods, metal and metal scrap, and it is the latter that the security forces caught in October 2004.

A consignment of scrap metals loaded in shipping containers left Bander Abbas in Iran on board MV Kuo Long and the containers were bound for ICD, Tughlakabad, via Mundra port in Gujarat and meant for the Bhushan Steel Company. Bomb disposal squads diffused live shells/bombs in the consignment; that is, the procedures followed for inspection of containers at Tughlakabad were lax.

The ICDs are a common user facility for handling/temporary storage of import/export laden and empty shipping containers. Trans-shipment of cargo can also take place

from such terminals and the customs clear goods at the ICD. No customs

clearance is required at gateway ports, thus it increases trade flows and also decongests seaports. At the ICD, the container is unsealed and examined in the presence of the customs examination staff. During examination, a certain

percentage of the packages are opened and this percentage is determined by the risk factors that are evaluated by the custom department.

The container appears to be most vulnerable and has the potential to be the ‘Achilles Heel’ of sea borne trade. Shipping containers can be used for transporting terrorists, weapons of mass destruction and for carrying out illegal trade. When used for such purposes, container shipping has the capacity to disrupt and even destroy maritime trade and threaten peaceful use of the seas.

It is humanly impossible to physically check each container for its contents.  So where does the solution lie? The answer is through harnessing technology to act as a force multiplier.

Unfortunately, none of the two-dozen ICDs across the country are provided with scanning equipment. What is perhaps most disturbing is that, other than the Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai, no seaport has scanning equipment. This has forced Indian trade to be routed through Dubai, Colombo and Singapore which have scanning equipment and are relatively safe to allow trade into US or major European ports. There are 45 seaports in the world that are Container Security Initiative (CSI) compliant and India is yet to take any initiative.

There is no denying that containers are the weak link in the maritime supply chain and this is best demonstrated by the fact that only a fraction of the millions of cargo containers that now enter US ports each year are inspected. That has prompted warnings that sea cargo remains a serious security risk. In the US, major ports are being equipped with radiation-screening equipment to detect nuclear or ‘dirty bombs’, which combine conventional explosives and radioactive material and the government is expected to authorise $3.5 billion for port security spending. The US remains serious about securing its global supply chain and help ensure the smooth flow of commerce into and out of the US. Given that Indian trade is expected to grow in the days to come, little or no effort is being made to secure India’s overseas trade transportation infrastructure.

The writer is Senior Fellow, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi