The Indian government has intensified its crackdown against drug cultivation and aims to make India “drug-free” by 2047. Over the past three years, the government has destroyed 35,592 acres of poppy cultivation and 82,691 acres of cannabis cultivation across the country.
The Ministry of Home Affairs plans to link recovery and usage of narcotics and banned substances in a particular area to the annual appraisal report of a District Superintendent of Police to bring accountability and fix responsibility. Manipur has seen the highest-ever destruction of such crops in the past three years, and the state has launched an alternate livelihood scheme for farmers growing poppy illegally and provides cash incentives to destroy illegal crops.
The NCB has arrested 2,412 persons in the last three years, out of which 224 are foreigners. The government is also encouraging the liberal application of the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (PITNDPS), which includes a provision to detain an individual for up to two years without a court’s intervention.
The NCB said the use of the ‘dark net’ and cryptocurrency in illegal drugs is increasing, and a sub-group on the counter-terrorism portal, the Multi-Agency Centre (MAC), has been created to share inputs on the use of the dark net and cryptocurrency for trade in narcotics.
All States have created dedicated Anti-Narcotics Task Forces (ANTF), and a centralised portal run by the NCB plots each recovery, seizure, and arrest on an interactive map.