Traders’ Body Claims NCB’s Action Against Amazon For Allegedly Selling Marijuana on E-Commerce Site

Traders body All India Traders Confederation (CAIT) has asked the Central Government and Narcotics Bureau (NCB) to take strict action against Amazon for allegedly selling cannabis through the e-commerce site. their. Last week, Madhya Pradesh Police announced that they had arrested a drug trafficking gang that was transporting more than 1,000 kilograms of banned drugs in Amazon-branded packages. CAIT has asked Home Secretary Amit Shah and Madhya Pradesh Foreign Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan to assure that the matter “shouldn’t have happened” and called it a serious threat to national security.

On the basis of initial investigation, CAIT said at a news conference Monday that state police had raided a Amazon warehouse in Gwalior on Sunday, where more than 380 packages of cannabis were disguised as curry leaves. Trafficking authorities believe the drugs were sold and transported from the depot.

CAIT BC Country President Bhatia and Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal allege that by selling cannabis worth more than Rs. 1 crore, Amazon made 66% commission.

“Amazon violated Section 20(b) of the NDPS (Drug Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act which states that ‘manufacture, manufacture, possess, sell, purchase, transport, import between States’ , interstate export or use of cannabis, will be sanctioned,” CAIT said in a press statement.

Bhatia and Khandelwal demanded that Amazon and its top management be punished under Section 20(ii)(c) of the NDPS Act. Both also raise the question of why Amazon doesn’t use its artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) capabilities to identify the sale of illegal and prohibited products including marijuana.

“The answer is simple, because they give little importance to the Indian people and Indian laws when it comes to developing their business,” Bhatia and Khandelwal stated.

CAIT also urged government agencies including NCB to conduct similar warehouse searches at other Amazon warehouses. It also requires the government and income tax authorities to investigate if the alleged drug supply is linked to any anti-national activities including money laundering and/or the financing of terrorist activities. claims or works Naxalite.

According to the First Information Report (FIR) filed by the Madhya Pradesh Police, a copy of this report with Gadgets 360, the accused were identified on Saturday. The FIR, however, does not explicitly define any role for Amazon in this matter. A report from the Hindustan Times mention that it had asked Amazon to explain whether it could verify sellers allegedly shipped the drugs through its online platform. The company did not respond to police, the report said.

Gadgets 360 has reached out to Amazon India for comment on the matter and received the following statement from a spokesperson:

“Amazon operates a market in India (amazon.in), which allows third-party sellers to display, list, and offer products for sale to end customers directly. Amazon has high compliance and contractual requirements that our sellers must comply with all applicable laws in order to sell their products on Amazon. amazon.in. We do not allow the sale of products that are prohibited by law in India. However, in the case of a seller listing such products, we will, as a middleman, take the strict action that may be required by law, when the same is stated with them. I. The issue has been reported to us and we are currently investigating any non-compliance on the part of the seller. We ensure the full cooperation and assistance required by the Investigative and Law Enforcement Authorities with ongoing investigations and ensure full compliance with applicable laws. ”