The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) is working on a proposal to map the entire country for availability of illicit drugs, identify the main centres along with the related activities so that specific strategies to counter menace can be put in place.
A scientific data analysis is also proposed to be used to plan an effective strategy to counter the flow of drugs. The agency plans to reach out to the vulnerable segments and influencers like the youth and in-charges of educational institutions to get into the root of the problem.
Campuses of the universities and educational institutions are considered to be one of the major points for consumption of the contraband drugs and an effective strategy to check the consumption pattern has to factor in the educational hubs, sources said.
A mechanism could help track the drug peddling channels and profiling the end users who could subsequently be subjected to de-addiction efforts, they said, the proposal is being worked out in collaboration with the Union Home Ministry.
Sources said the proposal emerged as an actionable recommendation from the DGPs conference earlier this year.
At present, the NCB’s primary counter-narcotics focus areas include surveillance and enforcement at import points and land borders besides preventive and interdiction efforts along the known drug routes.
Other focus areas include control measures at export points, such as air-passenger terminals, cargo terminals and foreign post offices.
To achieve these tasks, the agency has emphasized improved co-ordination between the various drug law enforcement agencies for identification and eradication of illicit cultivation and the wild growth of cannabis and the opium poppy.
It also seeks to strengthen the intelligence apparatus to improve the collection, collation, analysis and dissemination of operational intelligence.
The NCB has already been coordinating with various national and international enforcement agencies including the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence for interdiction of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.
Over the years, the NCB has also stressed on the need to have a mechanism for increased international co-operation, both in operational and long term intelligence as well as in investigations and mutual legal assistance.
While the DRI seized 26,785 kg of ganja in 2017-18 as compared to 16,197 kg in the previous year, the NCB also intercepted thousands of kgs of the contraband during the year even as the agency is compiling the data of seizures from various States.
Officials suspect a portion of the contraband ultimately reaches the campuses besides hotels and lodges especially in the tourist places and an exhaustive mapping of the areas besides coordination among the various agencies could lead to better results in choking the supply lines of the drugs, officials added.