The story so far: On Friday (June 26, 2026), Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched a three-year roadmap for narcotics control in India. The Vision Document on Drug Control (2026-2029) was released at the 10th apex-level meeting of the Narco-Coordination Centre (NCORD), organised by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). NCORD is a four-tier mechanism set up by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to coordinate among various stakeholders, including States, Ministries and the pharmaceutical sector, to combat the drug menace and bring all stakeholders under one umbrella.
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According to Mr. Shah, the entire roadmap has been prepared on the foundation of “Detect, Disrupt and Destroy”. It provides a time-bound national strategy to dismantle the narcotics ecosystem through coordinated action against trafficking, drug abuse, illicit finance and organised criminal networks.
The policy sets a target of identifying and dismantling 100 major interState and transnational drug cartels through intelligence-led investigations, coordinated operations, financial disruption and effective prosecution over the next three years. It also aims to bring together more than 40 Ministries, Central agencies, State governments, district administrations, educational institutions, civil society organisations and citizens under a common national framework against drugs.
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Enforcement efforts are to shift from targeting individual carriers to identifying, investigating and dismantling complete drug trafficking networks, including suppliers, financiers, handlers, facilitators and organised criminal syndicates, the document states.
The document calls for mandatory financial investigations in major drug cases and attachment of assets acquired through the illicit drug trade. It also seeks enhanced use of the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988.
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States and other investigating agencies have been asked to target drug kingpins and dismantle the financial foundations of trafficking networks through the 1988 Act, which enables preventive detention of habitual drug traffickers and individuals involved in the illegal narcotics trade to prevent them from committing further offences.
The vision document stresses the use of advanced surveillance systems, anti-drone technologies, AI-enabled profiling, container scanning and enhanced inter-agency coordination to strengthen interdiction capabilities across land, sea and air trafficking routes.
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Special focus is to be placed on methamphetamine, mephedrone and emerging synthetic drugs through strengthened precursor controls, intelligence-led operations and disruption of clandestine manufacturing and trafficking networks. The chemical and pharmaceutical industries will be encouraged to adopt voluntary compliance measures, report suspicious transactions and actively assist authorities in preventing the diversion of prescription medicines for abuse as psychotropic substances.
De-addiction, counselling, treatment and rehabilitation are among the key focus areas of the document. It calls for expanding these facilities to improve accessibility, support recovery and facilitate the social reintegration of persons affected by substance abuse. A nationwide awareness campaign aims to reach more than 50 crore citizens through educational institutions, community organisations and public participation, with the objective of transforming drug prevention into a people’s movement.
Higher educational institutions are expected to promote drug-free campuses through awareness, counselling, early intervention and pilot preventive drug screening initiatives as part of comprehensive student wellness programmes. Youth organisations, educational institutions and sports bodies will also be mobilised to promote healthy lifestyles, strengthen resilience against substance abuse and create drug-free communities across the country.
The document states that Telegram, WhatsApp and Signal host public drug channels with listings, pricing and delivery mechanisms that require no darknet skills. It also notes that auto-deletion features make evidence collection difficult.
The NCB’s Annual Report 2025 states that India’s eastern border with Myanmar has emerged as a major narcotics trafficking challenge following the Taliban-imposed ban on opium cultivation in Afghanistan in 2022, which significantly reduced Afghan production and shifted supply towards the Golden Triangle. Myanmar has increasingly emerged as an alternative source of global opium supply and a major hub for methamphetamine production, particularly in areas controlled by ethnic armed groups in Shan State. Illicit opium cultivation in Myanmar reportedly expanded by 56% between 2021 and 2023, with the area under poppy cultivation reaching 45,200 hectares.
The India-Myanmar border, particularly through the Manipur corridor along National Highway 102, has become the principal entry route for heroin and methamphetamine into India. A second major trafficking route operates through Champhai in Mizoram and onward to Assam’s Barak Valley via Aizawl and adjoining road networks. The northeastern States of Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland face the sharpest frontline exposure, with porous borders, difficult terrain and the erstwhile Free Movement Regime facilitating cross-border movement and enabling these regions to evolve from transit corridors into active staging grounds for narcotics distribution into the Indian hinterland.
Reflecting the growing scale of the threat, Mizoram alone accounted for 1,477 kg of Amphetamine-Type Stimulant seizures in 2025, out of the national total of 3,485 kg, followed by Manipur with 535 kg, underscoring the increasing importance of India’s eastern frontier in the country’s narcotics control architecture.
The western coastline, particularly along Gujarat and Maharashtra, is vulnerable to heroin and synthetic drugs originating from the Afghanistan-Pakistan-Iran corridor, while the southern and eastern seaboards are witnessing increased trafficking activity linked to Sri Lanka, the Maldives and the Golden Triangle region. The use of fishing vessels, coastal craft and other low-signature maritime platforms operating below the detection threshold of conventional surveillance systems has added to the complexity of maritime interdiction efforts.
The NCB Annual Report 2025 notes a discernible maritime shift in trafficking patterns, with four significant maritime interdictions in 2025 resulting in seizures of more than 390 kg of narcotics, including 305.894 kg of amphetamine at Porbandar, 53.62 kg of ganja at Ramanathapuram and 29.954 kg of hashish oil at VOC Port, Tamil Nadu.
Published - June 28, 2026 01:30 pm IST
The Hindu Explains / Drugs / narcotics & drug trafficking / crime / crime, law and justice / organized crime / gangs & organised crime / police
Source: The Hindu - India News
