Govt enhances efforts to stem drug trafficking

NEW DELHI: The government has stepped up efforts to fight drug trafficking and abuse by introducing a range of strong measures to improve coordination, enhance law enforcement and enhance monitoring mechanisms.

A four-level Narco-Coordination Centre (NCORD) has been created to facilitate more coordination between the central and state drug law enforcement organisations. Besides this, an NCORD portal has also been created to enable vital information concerning drug law enforcement.

Every union territory and state now has a specific Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) headed by an Additional Director General or Inspector General rank police officer. These task forces also act as the NCORD Secretariat at the state level, ensuring the implementation of important decisions.

For overseeing major drug seizures and investigations, a Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) has been established under the Director General of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). Border guarding units like the Border Security Force, Assam Rifles, and Sashastra Seema Bal have been given powers under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, to operate search and seizure at international borders. The Railway Protection Force (RPF) is also empowered under the NDPS Act to prevent drug trafficking via railways. This was shared by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai, in a written response to a question in the Rajya Sabha.

A dedicated task force for the darknet and cryptocurrency has been created under the Multi-Agency Centre (MAC) framework to keep an eye on the online platforms used for the narcotics trade. The task force concentrates on disrupting drug networks, ascertaining fresh trends, and examining associated laws.