Anti-narcotics agencies launch 24-month crackdown targeting drug traffickers and foreign offenders

Anti-narcotics agencies will deploy 24 separate fortnightly enforcement campaigns beginning September, targeting foreign drug offenders, absconding traffickers and pharmaceutical diversion as part of a year-long crackdown designed to dismantle trafficking syndicates.

The Narcotics Control Bureau has directed all states and central agencies combating drug crimes to execute the coordinated drives, each running 15 days through August 2027. While a student awareness programme in schools and colleges has been underway since August 16, the enforcement phase launches next month.

Foreign offenders and fugitives in first phase

The opening September fortnight will identify foreign nationals involved in drug crimes across the country for deportation, followed immediately by a 15-day drive targeting absconding narcotics offenders.

From October, the NCB and State and Union Territory Anti-Narcotics Task Forces will inspect medical stores and pharmacies alongside jurisdictional drug controllers to detect diversion of pharmaceutical drugs into trafficking channels.

Coastal awareness and transport checks

Subsequent fortnights will focus on compiling dossiers against drug crime fugitives, sensitising coastal communities about maritime narcotics trade, and conducting coordinated checks at all land, sea and air ports during the second half of December.

The second fortnight of January 2027 will see detection and destruction of illicit cultivation, followed by an awareness drive in chemical industries against diversion of precursor chemicals in early February and joint prison inspections in the second half of that month.

Dark web training and campus verification

The action plan includes specialised fortnights to engage youth in sports, verify drug-free status of educational institutions, and train government anti-narcotics personnel to monitor the darknet, cryptocurrency transactions, synthetic drugs and clandestine manufacturing laboratories.

These campaigns are designed to supplement regular tasks and time-bound targets already assigned to agencies under the national Vision Document for Narcotics Control 2026-29, unveiled recently. The NCB said the coordinated nationwide fortnightly campaigns will strengthen inter-agency collaboration, enhance public awareness and contribute significantly towards achieving the vision of Nasha Mukt Bharat.

Source: The Hindu