New Delhi, Sep 24 Anti-Narcotics Task Forces (ANTFs) of the country were urged to shift from seizure-centric to network-centric enforcement and focus on prosecuting kingpins and organised trafficking networks during a two-day national conference held here, an official statement said on Thursday.
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), which hosted the September 22-23 event, said the states were also urged to prepare their own three-year roadmaps, like the one brought out by the Centre, to “control” the drugs menace in their respective jurisdictions.
Union Home minister Amit Shah unveiled the National Vision Document on Narcotics Control a few months ago that aims to free India from drugs trafficking by 2029.
“During the deliberations, targets set under the Vision Document’s four strategic pillars were highlighted, with defined responsibilities, timelines and monitoring mechanisms.”
“Emphasis was also placed on strengthening state ANTFs…shifting from seizure centric to network-centric enforcement, financial profiling, effective use of PITNDPS (Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act and focused prosecution of kingpins and organised trafficking networks,” the statement said.
It added that the Director General of NCB urged the states to prepare their own three-year roadmaps to control drugs in the state, keeping in view their specific challenges and requirements, in alignment with the National Vision Document on Narcotics Control (2026-2029).
The conference was inaugurated by Shah on Tuesday.
“Shah emphasised that the time has now come to deliver a decisive blow against narcotics, which had become the most serious threat to the country and the world,” the statement said.
It added that the minister expressed his resolve to “collectively succeed” in uprooting the drug trade from India by December 31, 2029.
The conference saw three technical sessions on mechanisms to achieve the targets outlined in the Vision Document over the next three years, demand reduction, prevention and rehabilitation as well as dismantling drug trafficking networks and cartels.
It was also informed that the Railway Protection Force (RPF) has created a narcotics cell within its establishment and it will soon sign an MoU with the NCB following which the two agencies will undertake joint operations.
(PTI News)
