Govt highlights strategy to tackle drug trafficking
NEW DELHI: The government has announced a multi-pronged comprehensive strategy to deal with drug trafficking and substance abuse nationwide.
Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, in a written reply to the Lok Sabha, outlined coordinated enforcement actions, major drug seizures, advanced digital tools, and large-scale public awareness initiatives in order to meet the challenge from the supply and demand sides.
According to the government, a four-tier Narco-Coordination Centre (NCORD) mechanism is in place for seamless coordination among Central and State agencies. Every State and Union Territory has an Anti-Narcotics Task Force, which serves as the NCORD secretariat, and Joint Coordination Committees, at the Central and State levels, monitor important cases involving seizure of drugs. Enforcement has been further strengthened by empowering border guarding forces and the Railway Protection Force under the NDPS Act.
A major operational success was recorded on August 3, 2024, when ATS Gujarat Police conducted a raid in Bhiwandi, Maharashtra, seizing 10.969 kg of solid mephedrone and 781.463 kg of liquid mephedrone and arresting two individuals.
To scale up crackdowns, the NCB coordinates with the Navy, Coast Guard, Border Security Force, and other State-level task forces. Electronic scanners have been installed in all ports to alert authorities if narcotic drugs are concealed within any consignment. The NCB maintains regional offices, zonal offices, and field offices in Maharashtra for better coordination with real-time intelligence exchange.
It also highlighted how enforcement, intelligence, and investigation are being strengthened with the use of digital tools such as the NCORD portal, the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System, the National Integrated Database on Arrested Narco-Offenders, and the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System.
According to the government, quoting the report Crime in India 2023 of NCRB, Maharashtra recorded arrests of 16,777 under the NDPS Act in 2022 and 16,646 in 2023. Drug seizures shot up manifold in 2023, while convictions went up from 5,509 in 2022 to 6,184 in 2023.
