Not drug seizure alone, enforcement agencies must aim at destroying all channels of trafficking: Amit Shah

STATE TIMES NEWS

Guwahati: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday asserted that drug seizure alone cannot make the country drug-free.
Addressing the regional meeting on ‘Drug Trafficking and National Security’ here, the Union Home Minister said that enforcement agencies must aim at destroying all channels between the traffickers and the final consumers.
Chief Ministers, Chief Secretaries and Director Generals of Police of all North Eastern States participated in the meeting on ‘Drug Trafficking and National Security’

• Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired a meeting with Chief Ministers, Chief Secretaries and Director Generals of Police of all North Eastern States on ‘Drug Trafficking and National Security’ in Guwahati, Assam
• In Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Ministry of Home Affairs has strongly resolved to fulfil the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Drug-free India’

On the occasion of Azadi ki Amrit Mahotsav, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a dream to make the country drug-free and for this, coordinated effort is necessary between central and state agencies, Shah said, adding that the Government of India has adopted a policy of zero tolerance to thwart every attempt by ‘Dirty Money’ and ‘Organized Mafia’ to damage the country’s economy and national security
The security of the nation can only be ensured if drug trafficking and all related channels are destroyed as insurgency, arms smuggling, and other anti-national activities are linked to trafficking, he said.
”Insurgency along with arms trade and drug trafficking are two sides of a coin”, he said.
The Union Home minister urged the law-enforcing, health, revenue, and social revenue departments to adopt a twin-pronged approach for ensuring that drug trafficking is stopped.
”We must be harsh with the traffickers while at the same time the victims must be dealt with sensitively”, he said.
Shah said that considerable efforts have been made to tackle the issue in the Northeastern states, where drugs enter from the neighbouring countries, but ”it is not enough”.
He urged the chief ministers, chief secretaries, and directors general of police of the Northeastern states to adopt strategies both ”from top to bottom and vice versa so that the results percolate to the lowest level and the problem of trafficking can be eradicated from the roots”.
Approximately 40 thousand kilogram narcotics were destroyed in the northeastern region under a special campaign against narcotics
The Home Minister said that under Azadi ka amrit Mahotsav, a target to destroy 75,000 kilogram narcotics was set but under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, over 1.5 lakh kilogram narcotics has been destroyed so far, which is more than double of the target set
Amit Shah said that use of drugs is fatal for any society as the loss of a terrorist incident is limited, but the spread of drugs in the society ruins generations. Drugs work like termites to hollow the youth power of our society and country. He described drug trafficking as a borderless crime and called for better coordination between all Drug Law Enforcement and Intelligence agencies and bordering districts of the northeastern states is essential to tackle it
“We have to go beyond catching the ‘faces’ like drug abusers and distributors involved in any seizure and go behind them to nab the masterminds who send drugs from outside the border to India”, the Home Minister said, adding that on directions of Prime Minister, the Ministry of Home Affairs has adopted a three-pronged formula of strengthening the institutional structure, empowerment and coordination of all narcotics agencies and a comprehensive awareness campaign to crack down on narcotics
He said that every state should have one Forensic Science Laboratory and the Government of India is ready to give financial assistance of 50 per cent in this endevour
Shah said Regional Office of NCB has been established at Guwahati, New Regional Offices are being set up at Agartala in Tripura and Pasighat/Lower Siang in Arunachal Pradesh besides a Zonal Office has also been started at New Jalpaiguri for better coverage of the areas adjoining Sikkim
Issue of drugs smuggling is not an issue of Centre or state but a national issue and efforts to deal with it should also be national and unified, he added.
Union Home Minister emphasised that Chief Ministers of all Northeastern states should chair NCORD meetings and efforts should be made to percolate these to the district level. He favoured use of drone, artificial intelligence and satellite mapping for identification and control of areasu cultivating opium
Cases of drugs should be investigated thoroughly from its source to destination to crackdown on its entire network, he added
It was stated in the meeting that a total of 1257 cases were registered between 2006-2013 which increased by 152 percent to 3172 between 2014-2022, the total number of arrests during the same period increased by 260 percent to 4888 from 1362.
During 2006-2013, 1.52 lakh kg of drugs were seized which doubled to 3.30 lakh kg between 2014-2022, drugs worth Rs 768 crore were seized during 2006-2013, which increased by 25 times to Rs 20,000 crore between 2014-2022.