Amit Shah oversees destruction of Rs 2,400 crore worth narcotics, urges states to step up war on drugs

Union Home Minister Amit Shah today virtually oversaw the destruction of narcotic drugs worth over Rs 2,400 crores in various parts of the country carried out by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), in coordination with the Anti-Narcotics Task Forces of all states as part of the stepped up war against drugs.

Addressing the Regional Conference on ‘Drugs Trafficking and National Security,’ in New Delhi today the Home Minister said,“ I request all Chief Ministers and Lieutenant Governors to implement this step in all states…the biggest step to win this fight is to create maximum awareness. Until we don’t spread awareness against drugs among youths, we won’t be able to win this fight.”

The crackdown today brings the total amount of drugs destroyed in a single year to around 10 lakh kg. The total value of these drugs is around Rs 12,000 crore.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that the drugs destroyed today included 6,590 kg seized by the NCB Hyderabad unit, 822 kg seized by the Indore unit, and 356 kg seized by the Jammu unit.The quantity of drugs destroyed in other regions 1,486 kg in Assam, 229 kg in Chandigarh, 25 kg in Goa, 4,277 kg in Gujarat, 2,458 kg in Haryana, 4,069 kg in Jammu and Kashmir, 1,03,884 kg in Madhya Pradesh, 159 kg in Maharashtra, 1,803 kg in Tripura, and 4,049 kg in Uttar Pradesh.

With the Modi government adopting a zero-tolerance policy against narcotics in order to create a drug-free India as many as 3,700 cases have been registered and 3.94 lakh kg of drugs were seized between 2014 to 2023. Amit Shah said that there is an increase of 160% in the registration of cases and recovery of drugs compared to the previous regime.

From June 1, 2022 to July 15, 2023, all regional units of the NCB and state anti-narcotics task forces destroyed approximately 8,76,554 kg of seized drugs valued at approximately Rs 9,580 crores. The success of the war on drugs is reflected in the fact that this was more than 11 times the target that had been fixed, according to the official statement.