Govt developing new strategy to tackle drug delivery via couriers: Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the government is developing a strategy to tackle drug deliveries via couriers and postal services. He highlighted a broader vision to make India 'drug-free' by 2029, using a 'bottom-to-top' investigation model.

New Strategy to Counter Drug Couriers

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said that the government is developing a strategy to tackle drug deliveries via couriers and postal services. Responding to ANI's question on whether there are any measures in place to counter drug deliveries through post and courier services, Shah said, "We are currently discussing this with several people, but I would certainly say that even today, we do not have a leak-proof plan for this. However, our aim is to seize large quantities of drugs at one go. As for drugs coming through couriers and parcels, we are also developing a new strategy for this, which is currently in the pipeline. I am not in a position to give you the details of this today."

Vision for a Drug-Free India by 2029

Shah had outlined a broader vision to make India "drug-free" by 2029, highlighting the use of a "bottom-to-top" investigation model to trace narcotics from the street-level user back to the international kingpins. "We have created a roadmap to achieve the major milestone of making India drug-free by 2029. We all know that the narcotics trade is a crime that destroys our future generations; furthermore, the 'dirty money' generated through narcotics is also used to fund terrorism, leading to the emergence of 'narco-terror' modules in various countries, a problem that plagues the entire world today. Since 2019, we have taken measures to crack down on this issue: we have overhauled systems, dismantled networks, broken financial chains, and provided support to help victims break free from addiction," Shah said.

He added, “Before 2014, the battle was fought in a fragmented manner, at the unit level and in silos, where satisfaction was derived merely from apprehending petty offenders. From 2019 onwards, we made this a priority issue for our national security. Our fight against narcotics moved beyond mere paperwork and isolated actions by various agencies to become a coordinated, sustained campaign at the national level.”

Multi-Pronged Investigation Strategy

Detailing the approach adopted, the Home Minister highlighted the "bottom-to-top" and "top-to-bottom" investigation strategy. He added, "We emphasised financial investigations and the application of the PIT-NDPS Act. We constituted a high-level, dedicated task force. We initiated technology-enabled investigations targeting darknet activities, encrypted communications, crypto-payments, and 'dead-drop' delivery methods, and established a dedicated Darknet-Crypto Cell within the Task Force. We also established an inter-ministerial mechanism to address issues regarding precursor chemicals, synthetic drugs, and drug diversion. All of this has yielded excellent results." (ANI)

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