Jharkhand Police forces remove illegal opium production in naxal-affected regions under Murhu police station in Jharkhand's Khunti district. Union government has eliminated opium and cannabis growing across an area the size of approximately 89,000 football fields as part of its anti-drug campaign.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) intends to link the recovery and use of narcotics and prohibited drugs in a specific area to the annual appraisal report of a District Superintendent of Police in order to make India "drug-free" by 2047.
According to a top government official, this will bring accountability and establish responsibility. According to the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), 35,592 acres of poppy cultivation and 82,691 acres of cannabis cultivation have been eradicated across the country in the last three years. Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tripura, and Telangana are the states whose crops were damaged.
Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh told that 4305.1 acres of poppy growing in the state were eliminated between March 20, 2022 and April 20, this year. As a result, 110 cases have been filed and 40 people have been arrested. In the last three years, Manipur has experienced the highest-ever devastation of such crops. Singh stated that the state has developed an alternate livelihood programme for farmers who cultivate poppies illegally, as well as cash incentives to remove the illegal crops.
"Farmers in Peh village, Ukhrul district, were given a ten lakh rupee cash reward for voluntarily destroying cultivated poppy." Farmers were given winter hybrid vegetable seeds, pineapple saplings, low chilling apple saplings, and spices such as ginger and turmeric. "The scheme benefited 600 farmers," Singh explained. The MHA has formed a study committee to investigate the use of drones in the destruction of illegal crops in remote places, and the NCB shares satellite images with the affected states.
In the last three years, the NCB has detained 2,412 people, 224 of them are foreigners. The Ministry encourages the liberal application of the 1988 Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (PITNDPS), which includes a provision that allows for the detention of an individual for up to two years without the intervention of a court.
"Previously, PITNDPS was not widely used. We have informed the states that the provision should be used more frequently. "As of now, more than 500 people have been detained across the country under this Section," the spokesman stated. The directives can be issued by the Central Government, a State Government, or any officer of the Central Government with a rank higher than that of a Joint Secretary.
According to the NCB, the use of the 'dark net' and crypto currency in illegal narcotics is expanding, and the agency investigated 59 such cases in 2020, 2021, and 2022. The Multi Agency Centre (MAC), a sub-group on the counter-terrorism portal, has been formed to share information on the use of the dark web and crypto money for narcotics trade.
All states have established dedicated Anti-Narcotics Task Forces (ANTF) in response to Union Home Minister Amit Shah's directions. On April 19-20, the first ever conference of State ANTFs was convened. Shah emphasized the importance of confiscating the accused's property and assets for maximum deterrent throughout the conference. According to data, the NCB initiated financial investigations into 33 similar cases in 2022, freezing property worth Rs 17 crore.
At the conference, the Minister stated that unless seized narcotics are destroyed properly, there is a risk of drug rotation owing to corruption, and that the destruction should take place in public. Government agencies have burned 6.7 lakh kilogrammes of narcotics so far. Each recovery, seizure, and arrest is mapped on an interactive map and posted on the NCB, the Central Anti-Narcotics Agency's, centralized portal. The source and destination of narcotics are also highlighted on the National Narcotics Coordination Portal (NCORD), and information is kept up to the district level.
Another database, NIDAAN, has images, fingerprints, court orders, information, and details on all suspects and prisoners detained under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act thus far, and can be accessed by state and federal law enforcement organizations. Officials have been directed to investigate court decisions that resulted in the acquittal of the accused and to take corrective action to increase the conviction rate. Public prosecutors are receiving special training to handle such situations.
