At a conference of top anti-narcotics officers on Tuesday, Union home minister Amit Shah told senior enforcement officers they would have to change how they work: switch from meeting mode to mission mode, from reporting mode to delivering results, and from counting seizures to ending trafficking networks. Faced with expanding border smuggling routes and a growing domestic market for synthetic narcotics, the government has targeted the eradication of the country’s illicit drug trade by December 31, 2029.
It will not be easy, he cautioned them.
“The fight against drugs is the most difficult of all battles, but it can’t be abandoned and must be won by December 31, 2029,” Shah said.
“They won the war against naxals after setting a similar deadline. The law permits holding habitual traffickers for up to two years without bail and freezing illicit assets. “The government must create drug awareness and ensure convictions. People will fear dealing in drugs when they see criminals receiving jail sentences. The whole society must come together. “Seizures and FIRs are inputs; the outcome is convicted kingpins and financiers, and their property attached. Punjab’s experience shows one integrated supply chain fought by half a dozen agencies that share intelligence badly. Five had gone through. Cross-border drones now carry weapons with the drugs, so this is a national security issue. A courier is replaceable; capital is not.
A government spokesperson said 811 of the 1,000 people identified nationwide for action under this law have already been taken into custody. Even if they achieve 50% of their goal, this will be a big victory for the country,” he said. The Mundra heroin seizure(2021 drug bust) was the sixth consignment.
Because it makes someone answerable, provided the right things are measured, kBS Sidhu, former special chief secretary of Punjab, said the deadline was welcome. Because the payment trail survives long after the consignment is gone, follow the money, and let the ED attach the proceeds of crime,.
As part of the ongoing efforts, the government had told agencies to use preventive detention under the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (PITNDPS) Act. Advocate LN Rao, who started practising law after spending decades in Delhi Police, said this was an achievable target if every force believes this is a priority and was being tracked by the home minister. Police can ensure no one sells drugs in their area,” said Rao, a former deputy commissioner of police. And treat demand: cut supply alone, and the trade reroutes,” he said.
