NCB announces year-long fortnightly anti-narcotics drives starting September
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) is set to launch a year-long national enforcement drive from September, aimed at dismantling drug trafficking syndicates. The action plan includes 24 special fortnightly campaigns targeting absconding narcotics offenders, diversion of pharmaceutical drugs, and prison inspections.
The NCB has written to all states and central agencies tasked with combating drug crimes, directing them to undertake these drives over the next year, officials said. An awareness programme for school and college students has been running since August 16.
The first fortnight in September will focus on identifying foreigners involved in drug crimes across the country for deportation. The second fortnight will target absconding narcotics offenders, according to the action plan.
Beginning in October, the NCB, along with State and Union Territory Anti-Narcotics Task Forces (ANTFs), will inspect medical stores and pharmacies in coordination with jurisdictional drug controllers. The aim is to check the diversion of legally manufactured pharmaceutical drugs into the illicit narcotics market.
The schedule also includes preparing dossiers against drug crime fugitives, creating awareness among coastal communities about the maritime drug trade, and conducting coordinated checks at all land, sea, and airports in the second half of December.
In January 2027, the second fortnight will see detection and destruction of illicit drug cultivation. The first half of February will feature an awareness drive in chemical industries against the diversion of precursor chemicals, followed by joint inspections of prisons in the second half of the month.
The action plan further proposes special fortnights to engage youth in sports, drug-free campus verification in educational institutes, and training for anti-narcotics officers to scan the darknet, cryptocurrency, synthetic drugs, and clandestine drug manufacturing laboratories.
Officials said these coordinated nationwide campaigns will supplement the regular tasks and time-bound targets already set under the national Vision Document for Narcotics Control 2026-29, unveiled recently. The NCB said the drives will strengthen inter-agency collaboration, enhance public awareness, and contribute significantly to the goal of Nasha Mukt Bharat (Drugs Free India).
