New Delhi, Sept 16: Union Home Minister Amit Shah, speaking at the Second National Conference of Heads of Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) Heads on Tuesday, reaffirmed the Modi government’s commitment to eliminating narcotics from India.
Organized by the Narcotics Control Bureau, the conference highlighted the need for intensified action against the drug menace.
Shah emphasized Prime Minister Modi’s vision of a fully developed, secure India by 2047, with the youth as the nation’s foundation, urging stronger efforts to ensure their potential drives a drug-free future.
The HM said, “The Modi government is determined to wipe out the drug menace from the country and is making all-out efforts to achieve this goal.”
Shah said in some parts of the world, people have seen the link between a nation’s development and the challenge of drug abuse. “Unfortunately, two of the regions from where drugs are supplied globally are very close to us. So this is the time that we fight against it strongly,” he said.
The home minister said it is very important to save the young generation from drugs to achieve the goal of a fully developed India. The foundation of any great state is its young generation, Shah said.
Shah said there are three types of narcotics cartels — one that operates at all entry points of the country, another is the distribution from the entry point to the state, and the third are those that operate in small shops or kiosks, selling drugs.
“The time has come to deal a big blow to these three types of cartels. I believe that it can happen only when the officers responsible for working against drugs decide to take strong action against them,” the minister said.
The home minister also set in motion the process of destroying narcotics worth Rs 4,794 crore seized in different parts of the country.
“Just as extradition is crucial, a practical approach to deportation is equally important. A liberal approach to deportation processes should be adopted to ensure a mechanism for deporting criminals,” Shah said.
While extradition is a formal, treaty-based process where one country hands over a person accused or convicted of a crime to another country for prosecution and considered to be a cumbersome procedure, deportation is easier as it is a unilateral administrative act by a country to remove a person.
The home minister highlighted the need to adopt technologies such as darknet analysis, cryptocurrency tracking, communication pattern analysis, logistics, financial flow analysis, metadata analysis, and machine learning models to curb drugs cartels. He emphasised that this is only possible if everyone involved in the ‘Drug-Free India’ campaign takes ownership of the fight.
Shah urged all those fighting the drugs menace to dedicate 12 days in a year to this battle against the drugs cartels, stating that without such resolve, scaling up the effort cannot be imagined.
He warned that the trend of synthetic drugs and labs is likely to increase in the coming days and urged the ANTF heads in every state to remain vigilant, identify, and destroy such labs or synthetic drugs.
The home minister acknowledged significant progress in this area over the past year but stressed the need to prevent the creation of such labs and drugs altogether.
On Monday, Shah said the Modi government was determined to eradicate the menace of drugs by uniting all ANTFs. He also released the NCB’s annual report 2024.
The NCB has been actively coordinating with the GST department, state drug controllers, Income Tax authorities and financial institutions to uncover the full extent of the drug diversion network.
