NCB to get more teeth to check illegal drugs funds

Anti-narcotics sleuths are set to get more teeth as they will soon get access to suspicious transaction reports, cash transaction reports and other reports which have a possible link with drug money or terror funding.
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), country's central enforcement agency for probing and prosecuting drug crimes, will be the first agency under the internal security grid to ink a contract with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the Finance ministry which generates such reports from financial channels and intermediaries like banks and insurance regulatory bodies.
The NCB, which has a country-wide network of offices across the country, will prepare dossiers related to drug money and break the spine of illegal funds that are either being generated through drugs smuggling or are being used to strengthen the illegal supply chain of narcotics trade, once it gets access to such financial reports.

The agency, headquartered in Delhi, will be able to lay their hands on Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs), Cash Transaction Reports (CTRs) and Counterfeit Currency Reports (CCRs) which have a possible link related of drug money in either the same trade or terror funding.
Sources said both the agencies will soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and a regular and periodically updated database would be shared between them which will enable the NCB to value add to its prosecution cases resulting in strong legal cases against drug syndicates and agents running the racket in and outside the country.
"Use of counterfeit currency in drugs smuggling and transactions have been noticed many times.With such FIU alerts at the disposal of NCB, a better strategy to intercept such people and funds can be made," a senior official privy to the development said.

The NCB has also begun an enhanced communication with border guarding forces like BSF and SSB, to check drugs smuggling from across land borders.