NEW DELHI: Sharing that 35 lakh kg of drugs worth Rs 1,881 crore were seized between 2018 and 2021, almost three times the value of drugs seized between 2011 & 2014, home minister Amit Shah on Monday directed the deployment of container scanners and other related equipment for scanning incoming and outgoing container at all ports, whether government-controlled or private.
This comes months after a 3,000-crore drugs consignment was seized from Mundra Port in Gujarat, operated by Adani Ports.
Chairing the third meeting of the apex level committee NCORD here, Shah directed that illegal cultivation of drugs in the country be curbed by using drones, satellite and other technology.
He said all states should form dedicated anti-narcotics task forces (ANTF) under their DGPs, which will work as state National Coordination (NCORD) secretariats, even as a Central NCORD unit is formed under Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) at the Central level.
Stating the Narendra Modi government had adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards narcotics, Shah said there was a need for better coordination between all drug law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies, not only at the national level but also between the Centre and the states.
The NCORD meeting on Monday decided that a narcotics training module should be prepared at national level so that police, Central para-military personnel, prosecutors and people from civil departments can be trained. A standing inter-ministerial committee, it was decided, will be set up to curb misuse of dual-use precursor chemicals. It will be conducted by the chemical and fertilisers ministry and have representatives from NCB, MHA and the department of revenue.
To stop misuse of dual-use prescription medicines, a standing inter-ministerial panel under health ministry should be formed which should also have experts related to Pharma industry.
The NCORD meeting also decided that a national narcotics control call center ‘MANAS’ to be launched and an integrated NCORD portal at the central level set up to act as an effective mechanism for information exchange between various institutions/agencies.
An effective system was sought to be put in place to stop the increasing use of the darknet and cryptocurrency in the illegal drugs trade.
Shah directed that all personnel, Central police forces and state police should participate in the Modi government’s oath campaign of drug-free India and ensure that all their personnel become a part of this oath campaign
This campaign should be completed by January 12, 2022, Swami Vivekananda Jayanti, which we celebrate as National Youth Day, he said.