The number of drug-related cases in capital New Delhi has increased in one year.

While 14 cases of cocaine peddling have been registered, the cases with respect to other drugs are over 60, police sources said.

The number of cases of cocaine peddling in 2006 was seven. The same year, 25 cases relating to smuggling of other drugs were filed.

In Bangalore and Hyderabad, the number of cases registered in 2006 is two and one respectively.

The police attributed this to the large number of students in Delhi who seek them. Apart from this, cocaine is a very expensive drug and there is a very rich and affluent class of people in Delhi, the police said. Even the student community in New Delhi has plenty of money to squander, they added.

Although Delhi is a preferred place to market the drug, it lands first in Mumbai from where it is transported to Delhi. The police say that the drugs are manufactured in South American countries like Peru and Colombia.

Normally the peddlers prefer to take the aerial route as the quantity they bring in is very less. The police have found instances where drugs have been smuggled in books, shoe consignments and boxes. The police have sounded an alert to the airport security and also all the airlines to double check on boxes before checking them in.

Although the cocaine market is gradually increasing in the city, the police have another worry on hand -- the heroine market. Although the heroine market is on the downfall thanks to the advent of cocaine, the police say that they cannot take this market lightly.

In 2007, 76 kg of heroine have been seized in Delhi alone. However, it has come down when compared to 2003 wherein 137 kg of Heroine was seized.

The heroine market has its stronghold in Afghanistan from where it is brought into India. The Indian peddler who brings in Heroine through road also has the added responsibility of exporting to other countries, mainly in Europe.

Unlike the buyer, the peddler does not hail from a rich and affluent class of society.

Sources in the Narcotics Bureau say that it is mainly a family business and the interesting part is that these people have become a unique community. So unique they even marry within the community.

A Narcotics Bureau official recalled an incident in which a woman who had got her daughter married into a family they were dealing with in this business.

The peddlers from this community involve women and since 2003, 143 women have been arrested. Police say that these persons initially started of by selling illicit liquor and when the market for liquor crashed, they moved on to drugs. The problem for the cops is that since it is a family business, there are hurdles in arresting them. Since it is a family business, utmost secrecy is maintained between the families.

The police say that the menace has to be nipped in the bud and the route through which it is being brought in has to be cut off.