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More than 30,500 drug smugglers have been arrested across Punjab over the last 205 days as part of the state government's ongoing anti-narcotics campaign, officials said on Tuesday. The 'Yudh Nashian Virudh' or war against drugs campaign, launched to eradicate the menace of drugs from Punjab, completed 205 days on Monday. The Punjab Police on Monday conducted raids at 395 locations, leading to the arrest of 81 drug smugglers after registration of 59 first information reports (FIRs) across the state. With this, the number of drug smugglers arrested so far has reached 30,540 in 205 days, they said. More than 150 police teams, comprising over 1,100 police personnel, under the supervision of 74 gazetted officers, conducted these raids across the state on Monday. The raids resulted in the recovery of 922 grams of heroin, 4 kg of poppy husk, 336 intoxicant tablets/capsules and some drug money from the possession of the arrested smugglers. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has asked the ...
President Donald Trump said Friday the US military has carried out its third fatal strike against an alleged drug smuggling vessel this month. Trump in a social media posting said the strike killed three and was carried out against a vessel affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization conducting narcotrafficking in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility. He did not provide more precise details about the location of the strike, and the White House and Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking illicit narcotics, and was transiting along a known narcotrafficking passage enroute to poison Americans, Trump said in the post. The US twice this month carried out strikes against alleged drug-smuggling vessels that had originated from Venezuela.
The Narendra Modi government is determined to wipe out all kinds of narcotics from the nation and is making an all-out effort to achieve this goal, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday. Addressing the Second National Conference of Heads of Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) of States and Union Territories, he also said the time has come to change the scale of action against the drug menace so that there are more successes in the coming days. The conference, organised by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), began here on Tuesday. The home minister said Prime Minister Modi has set a target of 2047 to make India a fully developed and great nation. To achieve this dream of PM Modi, the country has to be fully secure, he said. "The Modi government is determined to wipe out the drug menace from the country and is making all-out efforts to achieve this goal," Shah said. "PM Modi has set forth the vision of creating an India by 2047 that will be the world's number one in every aspec
Over 22,000 narcotic smugglers have been arrested so far under a state-level campaign against drugs, officials said on Friday. Under the 'Yudh Nashian Virudh' (war against drugs) campaign, Punjab Police on Thursday arrested 113 drug smugglers and recovered 1.5 kg heroin, 5 kg opium, and 31,237 intoxicant pills from their possession. With this, the number of total drug smugglers arrested in 138 days of the campaign has reached 22,377. Special DGP (Law and Order) Arpit Shukla stated that over 180 police teams, comprising more than 1,300 police personnel, under the supervision of 93 gazetted officers, conducted raids at as many as 433 locations across the state on Thursday. The operation led to the registration of 81 FIRs across the state, Shukla said, adding police teams also checked as many as 483 suspicious persons in the exercise. The state government has also constituted a five-member cabinet subcommittee led by Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema to monitor the war against ...
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said the state government will amend the existing laws so that drug peddlers are booked under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). The amendment will be done in the ongoing monsoon session of the state legislature, he said. Replying to a question in the legislative council, Fadnavis said that action is taken against those involved in drug peddling and at present they are booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. However, those arrested get bail and again resume their activities, Fadnavis said. "The government is amending laws so that these people can be arrested under the MCOCA. The amendment will be done in the ongoing monsoon session of the state legislature," the chief minister said.
A team of Anti Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) of Delhi Police in South West District arrested one drug peddler and seized a total 83090 tablets of banned pharma drugs (Alprazolam & Zolpidem) and 26,000 packets of prohibited foreign cigarettes from Mehram Nagar area of Delhi Cantt, police said on Wednesday.According to a statement, the crackdown on the prohibited narcotics medicine unfolded when Delhi police received credible information regarding certain international cargo courier service operators in the Mehram Nagar area who are involved in supplying these medicines and imported cigarettes.The information revealed that the peddlers have set up a few godowns in the Mehram Nagar area where these prohibited items are being stored.The ANTF team of Delhi police led further investigation and identified the suspect's location in Mehram Nagar. The team laid trap near the identified premises and arrested the accessed identified as Sanjay Kumar Pandey, the statement said.During the search
Drug trafficking is a serious crime and drug addiction is a "quasi pandemic", the Bombay High Court has said, stressing the need for authorities to scrupulously follow the mandated rules while arresting a person and during recovery procedure. People dealing in drugs in the society need to be dealt with an iron fist but it cannot be at the cost of liberty of an individual, a single bench of Justice Milind Jadhav said in an order passed on Tuesday. The court made the remarks while granting bail to four persons arrested in 2023 for alleged possession of medicinal drugs under provisions of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The accused, while seeking bail, raised procedural irregularities by authorities when they were arrested and also while carrying out search of their residential premises. The bench in its order said the prosecuting agency has to strictly follow the procedure laid down in law during recovery procedure. "This is because the liberty of an accu
The Supreme Court on Friday refused to hear the bail plea of an accused in an alleged narco terrorism case, relating to the seizure of 532 kilogram of heroin and 52 kilogram of mixed narcotics worth Rs 2,700 crore at Attari. A bench comprising Justices M M Sundresh and Prashant Kumar Mishra refused to agree with the submissions of senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for one Tariq Ahmed Lone, that he should be granted bail as the contraband was not recovered from him. The charges are very serious, the bench said while dismissing the bail plea. The accused persons were booked and chargesheeted for allegedly trying to smuggle the contraband into India from Pakistan through Attari Integrated Check Post in 2019. Lone, a resident of Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir, moved the top court against the October 4, 2024 order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court denying him bail in the case. A special NIA court in Mohali rejected his bail plea on February 11, 2021. Gonsalves sought bail by
Narcotics worth over Rs 25,330 crore were seized by various agencies during 2024, an increase of 55 per cent as compared to the seizures made in 2023, an official statement said on Monday. The action in line with the zero-tolerance policy against drugs of the Centre was undertaken by all law enforcement agencies, including the Narcotics Control Bureau. The trend showed that seizure of addictive synthetic drugs, cocaine and pharmaceutical drugs used as psychotropic substances has increased significantly, which are also of much higher value, the statement said. "Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while implementing zero-tolerance policy against drugs, in 2024, all law enforcement agencies across the country, including the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), seized narcotics worth approximately ?25,330 crore, which is more than 55% higher compared to the ?16,100 crore worth of drugs seized in 2023," it said. The increase in seizure is the result of 'Bottom to Top' and '
The Supreme Court on Tuesday held vehicles used for ferrying drugs could only be confiscated after the conclusion of the case's trial when the accused was convicted or acquitted or discharged. A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Karol and Manmohan passed the verdict and said there was no specific bar under the the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act against the interim release of seized vehicles, provided the owner was not complicit in the offense. "Upon a reading of the NDPS Act, this court is of the view that the seized vehicles can be confiscated," the bench said, "by the trial court only on conclusion of the trial when the accused is convicted or acquitted or discharged." Further, even when the court decides the vehicle should be confiscated, it must give an opportunity to the person to be heard, it said. The seized vehicle, however, was not liable to be confiscated if its owner proved the vehicle was used by the accused person without their knowledge or ...
The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has helped in detection of undisclosed income of Rs 11,000 crore and seizure of 461 kg of narcotic drugs, the finance ministry said on Thursday. The FIU under the finance ministry collects, analyses and disseminates information to law enforcement agencies about suspicious financial transactions pertaining to money laundering, terror and proliferation financing. The intelligence shared by FIU-IND with agencies has led to Rs 983 crore worth of assets attached, Rs 2,763 crore worth criminal proceeds identified and Rs 10,998 crore undisclosed income detected. Besides, it helped in seizure of 461 kg of narcotic/psychotropic substances, levy of Rs 39.14 crore penalty and 184 arrests in money laundering and terror financing cases. In a post on X, the finance ministry also said 46.31 per cent higher refunds were issued between April-November 27, 2024, during FY25. Refunds amounting to Rs 3.08 lakh crore issued during this period.
Seizures of the narcotic drug Methamphetamine have increased in the northeastern states of Assam and Mizoram in the current year, with the DRI confiscating 123 kg of the contraband during April-September. Methamphetamine, also known as 'ice' or 'crystal meth', has become a significant challenge for law enforcement agencies in India, particularly through the porous northeastern borders. According to a report by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), the smuggling trend indicates that Methamphetamine is being illegally brought into India through sea routes in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal. For smuggling, the drug is brought to coastal hamlets like Rameswaram, Tuticorin and Nagapattinam, concealed within specially designed compartments in buses, trains, or cars. From these locations, it is smuggled across the maritime border to Sri Lanka through mid-sea transfers involving Indian fishing boats. In the first half of FY 2024-25, DRI seized 123 kg of methamphetamine in 11 cas