Centre prepares three-year anti-narcotics plan, new verticals set up in federal agencies

THe unification place ministry and telephone exchange anti-narcotics agencies ar workings on a sweeping three-year action plan targeting domestic drug cartels, overseas fugitives, setting up new verticals in federal agencies, and preparing a nationwide list as part of the Centre’s push to make India drug-free by 2047, officials familiar with the matter said. They added that separate dossiers on top 15 drug lords in each state will be created along with the formation of separate wings under state intelligence bureaus to track drug mafia by the end of the year.People aware of the matter said the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), which is tasked with preparing the plan, made a presentation to Home Minister Amit Shah last month. While the plan is yet to be formally approved, work on several components has already begun. HT has learnt details of some of the key proposals that form part of the Centre’s strategy, which will be unveiled later this year.“NCB revised the plan and showed it to the home minister after some changes were sought during the earlier presentations. The agencies have jointly identified nearly 150 key players who are pumping narcotics into India from abroad. Many of these fugitives are based overseas and operate from there. Detailed dossiers have been prepared on these 150 people, based on which agencies have been told to work for deportation instead of pursuing lengthier extradition. The deportation of Dawood Ibrahim’s aide, Salim Dola last month is one such example,” an official, who asked not to be named, said.Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly pledged to make India drug-free by 2047, a target that Home Minister Amit Shah has also reiterated on multiple occasions. Officials said the anti-drugs campaign is expected to become the Centre’s next major internal security focus after its ongoing push to eliminate Left-wing extremism by March 31, 2026.Another key proposal in the plan is setting up nearly 300 special NDPS courts. The locations of these courts have been identified based on the workload trend of drug cases so that cases go to trial and convictions are secured.“By December 2026, every state intelligence bureau (SIB) will have a separate vertical just to track drug mafia. This is being closely monitored by the home ministry. It will be the first time in the history of the IB if every state has such a vertical. Also, every anti narcotics task force(one each in every state/UT) will prepare a dossier on the top 15 drug lords in their state/UT and share the dossier with all agencies by the end of the year. A target of December 2029 will be set to nab all the top 15 wanted drug lords,” the official said, adding that the ANTF is also preparing a list of 10 drug trafficking hotspots in every district of the state.