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‘Big achievement’: Shah as NCB crosses target of destroying narcotics
Union home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday lauded the measures taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to thwart any attempt of drug trafficking in the country and pointed out that the NCB has already destroyed 150,000 kg of drugs against the set target of 75,000 kg during the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
Union home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday lauded the measures taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to thwart any attempt of drug trafficking in the country and pointed out that the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has already destroyed 150,000 kg of drugs against the set target of 75,000 kg during the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
Addressing an event in Gandhinagar, where he chaired a meeting of the NCB’s Western Region to discuss drug trafficking and national security, the minister said, “Narcotics need to be wiped out from our country and we have been getting good results in this direction for the last three years.”
A total of 12,438.96 kg of drugs valued at ₹632.68 crore were to be destroyed in the presence of Shah on Wednesday, as reported by the news agency ANI citing sources.
Two weeks ago, drugs and narcotic substances worth 40,000 kg were destroyed in Guwahati in Shah’s presence by the northeastern states.
“In Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, we had set a target of destroying 75,000 kg of drugs in 75 weeks. But today I am glad to say that we have already destroyed 1.5 lakh kg of narcotics ahead of the deadline and after availing proper court orders for the same,” said Shah.
Hailing it as a “big achievement”, the Union minister added that more needs to be done to ensure that the entire drug trafficking network is destroyed.
Commenced on March 12, 2021 with a 75-week countdown to India’s 75th anniversary of independence, Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav will end on August 15, 2023, according to the ministry of culture. Shah said that the ministry of home affairs has strongly resolved to fulfil the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘drug-free India’ during the Mahotsav.
“Like a termite, drugs make the youth of our society and the country hollow... it (drug trafficking) is also a breeding ground for terrorism,” he said. “Our fight against narcotics is at a delicate stage. We need to have a top to bottom and bottom to top approach.”
Shah asked the officials to go beyond catching the “faces” like drug abusers and distributors involved in any seizure and try to nab the masterminds who send narcotics to India from overseas. “Focus should be on demolishing the drug network and cross-border smuggling,” he added.
The meeting was attended in-person by Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel, director general of police Ashish Bhatia while officials from other states and Union territories participated via video conference.
“I extend special congratulations to the agencies in Gujarat who have carried out extensive operations in the sea to halt drugs trafficking in the western region. They have done it jointly with the central agencies,” said Shah. “Gujarat is a strategic location for reaching to Sri Lanka and states like Goa and Maharashtra will also join efforts in stopping the drug trafficking in this region. We will have checking arrangements with courier and parcel agencies so that we can to examine them for the presence of drugs.”
The Union minister said the success of the strategy to destroy the supply network of narcotics in the country is very much visible in a short span of time and that the drug seizures after 2014 proved it.
Sharing data about drugs-related cases and seizures, Shah said a total of 1,257 cases were registered between 2006 and 2013, which increased to 3,172 between 2014 and 2022. The total number of arrests also increased to 4,888 (2014-2022) as against 1,362 (2006-2013), he added.
During 2006-2013, 152,000 kg of drugs were seized, which doubled to 330,000 kg during 2014-2022, he said. Drugs worth ₹768 crore were seized during 2006-2013, which increased to ₹20,000 crore between 2014 and 2022, he added.
