Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday directed central and state agencies, police, and departments to adopt a “ruthless” approach to dismantle the drug supply chain, emphasizing a zero-tolerance policy to prevent drugs from entering India and to ensure the country’s borders are not exploited for drug trafficking.
Chairing the 7th Apex Level Meeting of the Narco-Coordination Center (NCORD) in New Delhi, Shah highlighted the severe threat posed by the drug trade, now intertwined with narco-terrorism, which undermines national security and weakens the economy through hawala transactions and tax evasion. He stressed the need for a stringent, multi-layered response to this crime.
Shah urged agencies to adopt a “top-to-bottom and bottom-to-top” strategy to dismantle drug networks, focusing on tracing the origins of seized drugs rather than targeting addicts. He called for rigorous investigation of drug consignments to uncover potential peddlers and highlighted the significant issue of synthetic drugs, urging agencies to locate and shut down illegal labs across states.
The Home Minister emphasized the importance of an integrated national effort and called for NCORD meetings to serve as platforms for decisive action and progress reviews. He advised districts to set clear goals, monitor rehabilitation efforts, and uncover economic offenses linked to the drug trade. Shah advocated for shifting from a “need-to-know” to a “duty-to-share” information policy among agencies to enhance coordination and trust.
Shah praised the progress made in the past five years through structural, institutional, and informational reforms, noting a significant increase in drug seizures from 1.52 lakh kgs (2004-2013) to 5.43 lakh kgs (2014-2024), with the value of seized drugs rising from Rs. 5933 crore to over Rs. 22,000 crore.
During the event, Shah launched the MANAS (Madak Padarth Nisedh Asuchna Kendra) portal, inaugurated the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Zonal Office in Srinagar, and released the NCB ‘Annual Report 2023’ and Compendium on ‘Nasha Mukt Bharat’. He highlighted the portal’s role in enhancing narcotics control capacity and called for joint coordination committees at the state level, rigorous financial investigations, and increased state budget allocation for narcotic forensics. S
Shah also underlined the development of an affordable forensic narcotics testing kit by the Forensic Science University to aid in drug case investigations.