Union Home Minister Amit Shah has emphasized the need to eliminate drug trafficking, noting that it is an enemy of national security and the future of the country. Shah made these remarks while chairing the Regional Conference on “Drug Trafficking and National Security” in Bengaluru, India.
Shah stated that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is fully committed to eliminating the menace of drugs under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Central government has adopted a policy of “zero tolerance against drugs” to achieve a drug-free India, and the MHA has adopted a three-pronged approach to crack down on narcotics. The approach includes strengthening institutional structures, empowering all agencies related to the control of narcotics, and launching an awareness campaign.
Shah highlighted that the problem of drug trafficking is a national issue that requires a national and unified effort to deal with it. He urged people to fight against drugs and emphasized the need to organize District-level and State-level NCORD meetings regularly.
To crack down on the entire network, the Home Minister emphasized that narcotics cases should be thoroughly investigated with a bottom-to-top and top-to-bottom approach, and no case should be investigated in isolation. He provided statistics that between 2014-2022, 3.30 lakh kg of drugs were seized, worth Rs 20,000 crore, and 4,888 arrests were made.
Shah said that the Modi government’s campaign against drugs has four pillars, namely Detection of drugs, Destruction of Network, Detention of culprits, and Rehabilitation of drugs abusers. He urged all states to make proper use of the NCORD portal and NIDAAN platform for effective action against drug trafficking.
During the conference, 9,298 kgs of seized narcotics, worth Rs 1,235 crores, were destroyed. Shah added that there is a need to increase the focus on coastal security and sea routes, and tighter vigil should be maintained on the Southern Sea Route.
The conference was attended by representatives from five southern states and three Union Territories.
