'Rs 25,000 Cr worth drugs seized in 2024'
New Delhi, Feb 11: Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while implementing a zero-tolerance policy against drugs, in 2024, all law enforcement agencies across the country, including the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), seized narcotics worth approximately Rs 25,330 crore, which is more than 55 percent higher compared to the Rs 16,100 crore worth of drugs seized in 2023.
An official spokesman in a statement issued here said that this success is a testament to the ‘bottom to top’ and ‘top to bottom’ approach adopted under the leadership of PM Modi and the guidance of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
He said that the PM Modi government is moving forward with a whole-of-government approach to create a drug-free India.
The spokesman said that in 2024, the seizure of more harmful and addictive synthetic drugs, cocaine, and pharmaceutical drugs used as psychotropic substances had increased significantly, which are also of much higher value.
He said that in 2024, the quantity of Amphetamine-Type Stimulants (ATS) like Methamphetamine had more than doubled to 80 quintals from 34 quintals in 2023.
The spokesman said that similarly, the quantity of cocaine seized had also gone up from 292 kg in 2023 to 1426 kg in 2024.
He said that the quantity of seized Mephedrone had also gone up from 688 kg in 2023 to 3391 kg in 2024.
The spokesman said that likewise, the quantity of hashish seized had gone up from 34 quintals in 2023 to 61 quintals in 2024.
He said that the quantity of pharmaceutical drugs which are increasingly being abused as psychotropic substances had gone up from 1.84 crore tablets to 4.69 crore tablets in number.
Major operations conducted by NCB, other agencies in 2024
February 2024
The NCB and Special Cell of Delhi Police bust an international drugs trafficking network with the arrest of three people and seizure of 50 kg of narcotics-making chemical Pseudoephedrine.
A joint team of NCB and Delhi Police busted the network acting on information provided by Australian and New Zealand authorities.
In a joint operation codenamed ‘Sagar Manthan-1’, carried out by NCB, Navy, and ATS Gujarat Police, a consignment of approximately 3300 kg of drugs (3110 Kg charas and hashish and 158.3 kg crystalline powder meth and 24.6 kg suspected heroin) was seized in the Indian Ocean.
It was a record in itself in terms of the amount of offshore seizure of charas and hashish on the beach in the country.
Five suspected foreign nationals were detained in this case.
March 2024
NCB arrested Jaffer Sadiq, the kingpin of the drug trafficking network busted by it in the month of February 2024.
Sadiq had been absconding and on the run since February 15, 2024, when NCB seized 50.07 kg of Pseudoephedrine from the godown of a firm and arrested three accomplices of Sadiq in this connection.
April 2024
In a joint maritime operation by NCB, ATS of Gujarat Police, and Indian Coast Guard, a foreign boat carrying approximately 86 kg heroin was seized and 14 Pakistani nationals were arrested.
Drugs worth approximately Rs 602 crore were seized during the operation.
October 2024
The NCB conducted a search operation in a factory in Kasna Industrial Area of district Gautam Budh Nagar and found about 95 kg of Methamphetamine in solid and liquid forms.
Chemicals like acetone, sodium hydroxide, methylene chloride, premium grade ethanol, toluene, red phosphorus, ethyl acetate, and imported machinery for manufacturing were also found.
November 2024
In a major breakthrough against the drug trafficking syndicates operating in India, especially in the Delhi NCR region, the NCB recovered one of the biggest hauls of cocaine in Delhi.
After working on the leads generated in these cases and through technical and human intelligence, the NCB was finally able to reach the source of the contraband and 82.53 kg of high-grade cocaine was recovered from the Janakpuri and Nangloi area of Delhi.
In a joint operation codenamed ‘Sagar Manthan-4’, the NCB, Indian Navy, and ATS Gujarat Police busted an international drug trafficking cartel and seized approximately 700 kg of contraband meth in Gujarat.
