The Government has taken various measures to curb drug trafficking, some of which are mentioned below: -

(i)      A 4-tier Narco-Coordination Centre (NCORD) mechanism for ensuring better coordination between Central & State Drug Law Enforcement Agencies and other stake holders in the field of controlling drug trafficking and drug abuse in India has been established. An all-in-one NCORD portal has been developed for information related to drug law enforcement.

(ii)     A dedicated Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) headed by Additional Director General/ Inspector General level Police Officer has been established in each State/ Union Territory to function as the NCORD Secretariat for the State/ Union Territory and follow-up on compliance of decisions taken in NCORD meetings at different levels.

(iii)    To monitor the investigation of important and significant seizures, a Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) under the Chairmanship of Director General, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has been set up by Government of India.

(iv)    Border Guarding Forces (Border Security Force, Assam Rifles and Sashastra Seema Bal) have been empowered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985 to carry out search, seizure and arrest for illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs at international border. Further, Railway Protection Force (RPF) has also been empowered under NDPS Act to check drug trafficking along the railway routes.

(v)     Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) coordinates with other agencies like, Navy, Coast Guard, Border Security Force, State ANTF, etc., to conduct joint operations to control the drug trafficking.

(vi)    Towards the capacity building of drug law enforcement agencies of the    country, NCB is continuously imparting training to the officers of other drug law enforcement agencies.

(vii)   A task force on Darknet and Crypto-Currency has been set up under the Multi Agency Centre (MAC) mechanism with a focus on monitoring all platforms facilitating Narco-trafficking, sharing of inputs on drug trafficking amongst Agencies/MAC members, interception of drug networks, continuous capturing of trends, modus operandi & nodes with regular database updates and review of related rules & laws.

(viii)  To strengthen NCB and to increase its pan India presence, 536 posts in different level has been created in NCB. Government has increased NCB’s Regional Offices from 03 to 07 and upgraded its Sub-Zones to Zones, making a total of 30 Zonal Units across the country. During this restructuring, special focus has been laid on cyber, legal, and enforcement aspects for more effective drug law enforcement.

(ix)    A National Narcotics Helpline “Madak-Padarth Nished Asoochna Kendra” (MANAS) has been created a 24x7 toll-free National Narcotics Call Centre helpline No.1933. Accordingly, MANAS has been envisioned as an integrated system providing a single platform for citizens to log, register, track and resolve drug related issues/problems through various mode of communications like call, SMS, Chat-bot, e-mail & web-link.

(x)     Assistance is being provided by Central Govt. to the states for Up-gradation of existing forensic science laboratories in the states under different schemes.

11. A high-level dedicated group has been created in National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) in November 2022 to analyze the drug trafficking through maritime routes, challenges and solutions (Maritime Security Group – NSCS).
12. Director General Level Talks by NCB are organized with neighboring and other countries such as Myanmar, Iran, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Singapore, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, etc.  to resolve various issues on drugs trafficking having international implications and issue of maritime trafficking.

The Government has taken following steps to strengthen Narcotics Control Bureau to counter the growing threats of drugs, some of which are as under: -

(i)        Regional Offices have been increased from 03 to 07 by addition of 04 Regional Offices at Amritsar, Guwahati, Chennai and Ahmedabad.

(ii)       Zonal Offices have been increased from 13 to 30, across the Country by addition of 05 new Zonal Offices at Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh), Siliguri (West Bengal), Agartala (Tripura), Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh) and Raipur (Chhattisgarh) and by upgradation of 12 existing Sub-zones as Zones.

(iii)      The sanctioned strength of NCB has also been increased to 1496 by creation of 536 new posts in different categories.

(iv)      Narco-Canine Pool at 10 Zonal offices of NCB for assistance required by various Drug Law Enforcement Agencies for detection of drugs have also been established.

This was stated by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs Shri Nityanand Rai in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.

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