Amit Shah calls on states to work with federal agencies to combat drug trafficking.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah issued the directives while chairing the third meeting of the Apex Level Committee of the Narco Coordination Center (NCORD) in New Delhi on Monday.

To combat the illicit drug trade in the country, the Union administration has ordered states to work together with central agencies to develop a specific anti-narcotics task force led by police chiefs, establish narco-canine squads, and use drones to monitor drug cultivation, among other things.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah issued the directives while chairing the third meeting of the Narco Coordination Center's Apex Level Committee (NCORD) in New Delhi on Monday.

According to a statement released by the Ministry of External Affairs, "the Modi government believes drug misuse to be a grave danger to national security that can only be addressed via broad coordination" (MHA).

Container scanners should be installed at all water ports, and inter-ministerial committees on dual-use precursor chemicals and dual-use prescription pharmaceuticals should be formed, among other recommendations.

The statement added that "directions were given for the arrangement of Container Scanners and accompanying equipment for scanning of incoming and leaving containers at all ports, whether government or private."

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence recuperated almost 3,000 kg of heroin in Gujarat's Mundra port in September, in what is believed to be probably India's most prominent opiate seizures.

Narcotics worth Rs 1,881 crore were confiscated between 2018 and 2021, according to the MHA, which is three times the value of drugs recuperated somewhere in the range of 2011 and 2014. (Rs. 604 crore). According to the government, roughly 35 lakh kg of drugs were intercepted between 2018 and 2021, which is more than quadruple the 16 lakh kg collected between 2011 and 2014.

All states should develop an Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) under the oversight of state police bosses (DGPs), which will fill in as State NCORD secretariats, as per Shah. On a public level, he likewise coordinated the development of a focal NCORD unit under NCB.

The government created NCORD to improve cooperation among drug enforcement agencies and other stakeholders, as well as to provide a forum for debate of drug-trafficking-related issues.

"Describing it as a borderless crime," MHA added, "the Home Minister requested that there be increased coordination between all drug law enforcement and intelligence organizations, not only at the national level but also between the Center and the states".