NEW DELHI: Exhorting anti-narcotics agencies to adopt a “ruthless” approach to dismantle supply chains, Union Home Minister Amit Shah Thursday said India will not allow “even a gram” of drugs to enter into the country nor will it allow it’s borders to be used for drug trade in any manner.
“Now, drug syndicates are trying to enter through the maritime border. The officials were casually telling me about these drugs’ destinations. We should make resolution that We will not allow a single gram of drugs to come into India from anywhere, nor will we allow India’s borders to be used for drug trade in any way,” Amit Shah said while emphasizing how drug syndicates are trying to infiltrate through a maritime border.
He said while chairing the 7th Apex Level Narco-Coordination Centre (NCORD) Meeting at Vigyan Bhawan on Thursday and pledged to make India free from drugs.
He further appealed to the states to adopt a “ruthless” approach towards the drug supply chain, emphasising a commitment to preventing any drugs from entering the country and ensuring that India’s borders are not used for drug trafficking.
Shah, while addressing the meeting, informed that major drug syndicates were busted and a huge quantity of drugs had been seized from 2014 to 2024, three times more than from 2003 to 2013.
The meeting was aimed at coordinating and synergizing the efforts of various central and state government agencies involved in countering drug trafficking and abuse in India.
Addressing the meeting, Union Minister Amit Shah said, “Today, in NCORD’s 7th Apex Meeting, I want to express gratitude to all the officials involved in the fight against narcotics from 2019-2024. But, in this duration, we have achieved only 1/10th of the target. An infrastructure has been built up and seriousness has been built in all departments of the government. We have succeeded in promoting it as a campaign.”
He said that the motto of our agencies was ‘Need to Know’, but now we should move towards ‘Duty to Share’ and this major change will have to be adopted by all agencies.
He also stated that the government is going to provide kits for primary testing of narcotics at a cheaper rate, which will make filing cases much easier.
“But we can’t win this fight until individuals below the age of 33 hold a resolution to fight against narcotics and individuals beyond the age of 35 decide to guide them. The government can provide directions to these fights, that’s why, our approach is to take these fights in between 130 crores people. I believe all the departments and officials of states need to integrate this approach into their target,” said Shah.
He also mentioned that Prime Minister Modi has set a target to make India first in every field by 2047, which is possible only by keeping the younger generation away from the scourge of drugs
Shah further specified how little steps in this issue matter and stated, “AMRUTKAAL initiated by PM Modi has set a target that our country should be first in every domain till 2047, the century of independence day. For this purpose, a huge AMRUT campaign was initiated to make people aware of this target. But to achieve this target, we need to work on each and every sector. We can’t achieve this target until and unless our youth is free from drugs. The fight against drugs is very important and we need to fight it with seriousness and priority. We can’t win until everybody puts effort into it, whether a little one and I urge everyone to put their ‘little effort’.
Specifying about hardships of ‘Nasha Mukt Bharat’, Shah said, “The resolution of “Nasha Mukt Bharat” is a big resolution along with a challenge and target. But it is also one of the biggest opportunities to win this fight against drugs. We have examples of several Western countries. I have deeply researched on this topic. They have removed it from criminal offense, not due to a liberal and lenient approach, but due to their helplessness, as their jails do not have enough space. Again, I urge all of the departments to take a little time from their busy schedule and fight against drugs.”
Stating the facts, Shah said, “In the past 5 years, we tried to grapple with drugs and various structural, institutional, and informational reforms. Between 2004 to 2013, around 1 lakh 52 thousand kg drugs worth Rs 5,933 crores were seized, while between 2014-2024, we seized 5 lakhs 43 thousand kg drugs worth Rs 22,000 crore, which means we succeeded by 3 times. We busted various drug networks too.”
Amit Shah directed officials in the NCORD meeting and said, “The drug trade is now associated with narco-terror posing a serious threat to the security of the nation. This trade also strengthens the channels that weaken our economy. The drug cartels get involved in hawala transactions and tax evasion. This is a multi-layered crime and we need to deal with it harshly. I want to urge all agencies and state police to set their target to detaining drug businesses and syndicates rather than detaining drug users, for which top to bottom and vice versa investigation is needed.
Addressing the issue of synthetic drugs, Shah stated, “Now, we have to tackle the problem of synthetic drugs in our country. we have busted various illegal labs. I want every anti-narcotics agency should take inputs about these labs from NCB and bust such activities in their state.
He concluded the meeting with a resolution to adopt a ruthless approach and said, “The meetings of NCORD should be outcome-based and result-oriented, with an approach to achieve the fixed target made on a regional basis. On a serious note, we need to continue with a ruthless approach to bust the drug supply chain a strategic approach to demand reduction, and a human approach to harm reduction.”
