Forfeit assets of drug traffickers, says Rajnath
NEW DELHI: Home minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday called for strong steps against narcotics trade in the country, saying assets of drug traffickers should be “forfeited” and stern legal action be taken against drug cartels.
Singh, in his address at the first national conference on ‘drug law enforcement’ here, urged multiple government agencies working in this domain to increase the use of technology in drugs interdiction. “To stop the inflow of money generated from illegal trade of drugs into our economy, proper financial investigation needs to be conducted in each significant NDPS (anti-narcotics law) case.
“Movable and immovable assets of drug traffickers should be forfeited. This will break the back bone of drug trafficking,” Singh said while addressing officials of various anti-narcotics agencies from the Centre and the states.
In his address at the conference organised by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), he said a “lot more” work still needs to be done in the field of combating narcotics crime.
“Drug law enforcement in India is a multi-agency task. All enforcement agencies should give high priority to this,” Singh said.
Drug trafficking, he said, is an organised crime run by cartels and syndicates and “we need to identify such syndicates and their kingpin and take stern action against them to disrupt their illegal businesses.”
He said regular arrests or “catching” by police and other agencies of drug carriers was just the “first step” in the larger process of hitting at the root of the drugs trade.
“Our national policy on narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances gives equal emphasis on supply and demand reduction. We need to spread more awareness among the public particularly among the young about ill-effects of drug abuse,” he said.
The home minister said illicit cultivation of opium and cannabis in some parts of the country was a matter of concern. He said India’s geographical position on
› Movable and immovable assets of drug traffickers should be forfeited. This will break the back bone of drug trafficking
RAJNATH SINGH, Home minister
the globe — between two largest opium producing regions of the world that is golden crescent in the west (Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran) and golden triangle (Myanmar, Laos and Thailand) in the east — and sea and air links with these countries makes it “vulnerable” to drug trafficking.
Singh said it was important for Indian agencies such as the NCB to “actively collaborate” with foreign countries, particularly neighbouring nations, by way of sharing of intelligence on a real-time basis.
He also gave out some figures of drugs interdiction and seizure last year.
During 2017, he said, various agencies seized 1,991 kg opium, 2,189 kg heroin, 1.96 lakh kg ganja, 2,657 kg hashish, and 67 kg cocaine in the country.
Also, opium poppy crop spread over 6,007 acres and cannabis over 8,358 acres was destroyed by enforcement agencies, he said.
Singh also said that 332 foreign nationals were arrested in drug cases in India in last year, largely for trafficking cocaine and heroine category of narcotics that are abused by the youth.