New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah, asserted on Saturday that simply seizing drugs wouldn’t be enough to rid the nation of drugs; instead, law enforcement authorities needed to work to cut off all routes between traffickers and the public.
Amit Shah chaired a meeting with Chief Ministers, Chief Secretaries and Director Generals of Police of all North Eastern States on ‘Drug Trafficking and National Security’ in Guwahati, Assam today
In Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Ministry of Home Affairs has strongly resolved to fulfil Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a ‘Drug-free India’
Approximately 40 thousand kilograms of narcotics were destroyed in the northeastern region under a special campaign against narcotics.
Under Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, a target to destroy 75 thousand kilogram narcotics was set but under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, over 1.5 lakh kilogram narcotics have been destroyed so far, which is more than double of the target set
“Government of India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has adopted a policy of zero tolerance to thwart every attempt by ‘Dirty Money’ and ‘Organized Mafia’ to damage the country’s economy and national security,” Shah said.
“Use of drugs is fatal for any society as the loss of a terrorist incident is limited, but the spread of drugs in society ruins generations. Drugs work like termites to hollow the youth power of our society and country. Drug trafficking is a borderless crime and better coordination between all Drug Law Enforcement and Intelligence agencies and bordering districts of the northeastern states is essential to tackle it.”
“We have to go beyond catching the ‘faces’ like drug abusers and distributors involved in any seizure and go behind them to nab the masterminds who send drugs from outside the border to India,” he said adding that on directions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Ministry of Home Affairs has adopted a three-pronged formula of strengthening the institutional structure, empowerment and coordination of all narcotics agencies and a comprehensive awareness campaign to crack down on narcotics
Union Home Minister said that every state should have one Forensic Science Laboratory and the Government of India is ready to give financial assistance of 50% in this endeavour
A Regional Office of NCB has been established at Guwahati, New Regional Offices are being set up at Agartala in Tripura and Pasighat/Lower Siang in Arunachal Pradesh, and a Zonal Office has also been started at New Jalpaiguri for better coverage of the areas adjoining Sikkim
The issue of drugs smuggling is not an issue of the Centre or state but a national issue and efforts to deal with it should also be national and unified
Union Home Minister emphasised that Chief Ministers of all Northeastern states should chair NCORD meetings and efforts should be made to percolate these to the district level
Union Home Minister favoured the use of drones, artificial intelligence and satellite mapping for identification and control of areas cultivating opium.