At the RN Kao Memorial Lecture last week, Union home minister Amit Shah outlined what appears to be the government’s next major national security mission: a full-scale crackdown on narco-trafficking and narco-terror after claiming success against Left-wing extremism.
Speaking before diplomats, intelligence officials and law enforcement chiefs at the headquarters of Research and Analysis Wing, Shah focused extensively on the growing threat posed by international drug networks and the need to make India drug-free by 2047.
Even as Shah delivered the address, the Narcotics Control Bureau was conducting a major operation that led to the seizure of 222.7 kg of Captagon — often referred to as the “jihadi drug” — valued at around Rs 200 crore.
India’s geographical location has made the challenge particularly complex. The country lies between the “Dead Crescent” — the Afghanistan-Pakistan heroin-producing belt — and the “Dead Triangle” of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, known for heroin and synthetic drug production. Authorities are also increasingly concerned about cocaine trafficking routes from South America entering through Sri Lanka using speedboats and drones.
Over the years, India has evolved from a transit route into a major consumer market, driven partly by rapid economic growth and expanding urban demand.
Shah’s proposed anti-drug campaign faces several hurdles, including porous borders, weak governance in neighbouring countries and the rise of organised narco-syndicates across South Asia. Security agencies have repeatedly warned that drug trafficking networks are often linked to terror financing.
Investigators had earlier found evidence suggesting that Pakistan-backed terror groups used narcotics money to fund operations in India. During questioning by the National Investigation Agency in 2010, Lashkar-e-Taiba operative David Coleman Headley reportedly revealed links between terror funding and drug networks.
The government is now expected to strengthen the NCB with greater manpower, expanded intelligence coordination and tougher enforcement mechanisms. Officials also believe that tackling the drug problem will require stronger international cooperation and stricter global laws on narcotics and precursor chemicals.
Beyond enforcement, experts say the campaign will also require a broader social effort to counter the glamorisation of drug use, especially among young people.
With India surrounded by economically fragile and politically unstable regions, Shah’s anti-drug push is likely to become one of the country’s biggest internal security battles in the coming years.
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