Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra said on Sunday, November 21, that Amazon officials were not cooperating in the investigation of a case related to the alleged sale of marijuana through the website, after which action has been taken to register a First Information Report (FIR). "Online drug trade is a more serious crime than cyber crime and such crime will not be encouraged in the state," he added in a tweet.
Mishra said a case has been registered against the executive directors of Amazon in Bhind under Section 38 of the NDPS Act. “In marijuana sale through Amazon e-commerce portal, the Bhind Police which is investigating the matter has made Executive Directors of Amazon Seller Services Limited as accused under section 38 of the NDPS Act. The traders across the country appreciate the firmness of MP Police in this matter and have complimented CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Home Minister Narottam Mishra for the efficiency of the police system,” the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said in a statement.
Earlier, the CAIT had greatly appreciated the statement of Narottam Mishra for giving a strong and unequivocal warning to Amazon to cooperate with the investigation conducted by MP police.
“The statement of Mishra has generated hopes among the trading community across the country that this time this sensational issue will not be diluted since the statement has plugged all the escape routes for Amazon,” CAIT said.
The CAIT had alleged that the current report of sale of marijuana through the e-portal of Amazon is a big shock and an eye opener “that to earn profit these companies can do anything or everything including sale of prohibited goods.”
"It has been reported that Amazon has been facilitating trade of Marijuana through its marketplace e-commerce platform which is meant to act only as a bridge between buyer and seller for the sale and purchase of permitted goods/services. However, from the recent findings of Madhya Pradesh police it is clear that the drug rackets being operated on the marketplace platform are not without the knowledge and active involvement of Amazon, but Amazon has been fully involved by storing such narcotics in their warehouses, provided their delivery channels for safe and secure delivery of the drugs to the customers and also taking major share of the sales proceeds (of the order of 66%) as their profit/sales commission," CAIT alleged.