181% rise in registration of drugs cases, 145% in seizures: NCB data

The registration of criminal cases against drug traffickers and cartels in the country rose by 181 per cent during the nine years of the Modi government compared to eight years immediately before that, according to official data released on Wednesday by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

"The Modi government's multi-dimensional efforts led to an increase of around 145 per cent in the seizure of narcotics and 181 per cent more cases have been registered by the NCB against those involved in this business," Shah said.

He also stressed that a "ruthless approach" should be undertaken by anti-narcotics agencies against drug syndicates to eradicate this menace from the country.

The Union government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi was sworn in 2014.

According to the data for 2014-22 (provisional data for 2022), 3,544 cases were registered by the federal anti-narcotics agency NCB in which 3,408 people were arrested.

As much as 3,73,495 kgs of drugs was seized during this nine year period and the value of the drugs seized by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) stood at Rs 22,000 crore, about 30 times more than the eight years before the Modi government came to power, according to the data.

The comparative data for 2006-13 stood at 1,257 cases, 1,363 arrests and seizure of 1,52,206 kgs of drugs carrying a total value of Rs 768 crore.

Another set of data compiled by the NCB stated that all the anti-drugs enforcement agencies of the country disposed of 5,94,620 kgs of drugs worth Rs 8,409 crore between June 2022 to March 24, 2023.