New Delhi, Aug 23: Anti-drugs trafficking agencies will launch a year-long national enforcement drive from September to apprehend absconding narcotics offenders, inspect medical shops for diversion of pharmaceutical drugs and prisons as part of an action plan to dismantle syndicates dealing in drugs trafficking.
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has recently written to all the states and various central agencies tasked to fight drug crimes asking them to undertake 24 different special drives that will run for a fortnight each till August next year, officials told PTI on Sunday.
While an awareness program for students in schools and colleges is ongoing since August 16, the enforcement action drives will begin from September which includes a fortnight where foreigners who indulge in drug crimes will be identified across the country for deportation while the next 15-day drive will target absconding narcotics offenders, according to the action plan.
Beginning October, the NCB along with the state and Union Territories Anti-Narcotics Task Forces (ANTFs) will inspect medical stores and pharmacies in coordination with jurisdictional drug controllers to check diversion of pharma drugs for narcotics trafficking.
The action plan, according to the officials, will subsequently suggest separate fortnights for preparation of dossiers against drug crime fugitives, creating awareness among coastal communities on maritime drug trade and coordinated checks at all land, sea and airports in 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 the first-half of February and joint inspection of jails in the second half of that month.
The action plan also envisages special fortnights to engage the youth in sports, drug-free campus verification exercise in educational institutes and training of anti-narcotics government agents to scan the darknet, crypto currency, synthetic drugs and clandestine drugs manufacturing laboratories, officials said.
These fortnightly campaigns are intended to supplement the regular tasks and time-bound targets already earmarked for various agencies in the country under the national Vision Document for Narcotics Control 2026-29 that was unveiled recently, the officials said.
The NCB has said these coordinated nationwide fortnightly campaigns will not only strengthen inter-agency collaboration but also enhance public awareness and contribute significantly towards achieving the vision of Nasha Mukt Bharat (Drugs Free India).
