Anti-drug fight key to $5 trillion economy, says home minister Amit Shah

BENGALURU: Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday said a successful anti-drug campaign was key to India's advancement and goal of achieving a $5 trillion economy by 2025 and the fight cannot be successful "unless there's a whole-of-government approach".
Pointing out how the Centre, led by PM Modi, has taken the fight to the next level, Shah said data shows 1,260 drug cases were registered between 2006-2013 and between 2014-2022, there has been a 181% increase with 3,544 cases, a scale never achieved since independence. "In terms of arrests, there has been a 300% increase with 5,408 arrests between 2014 and 2022 compared with 1,363 between 2006 and 2013," he said.
Shah was speaking at regional conference on 'drug trafficking and national security' for southern states/UTs in Bengaluru. He added that there's been a more than 100% increase in drug seizures with over 3.7 lakh kg of narcotics seized during 2014-22 compared to more than 1.5 lakh kg between 2006 and 2013. "We've not just gone through the process but have been very conscious in our approach as indicated by the value of the drugs. Seizures between 2014 and 2022 have been of high-value drugs and are worth Rs 20,000 crore compared to the previous period when drugs seized were worth only Rs 786 crore."
Further, urging states to increase focus on drug trafficking through the sea, Shah said: "In the past few years, the Indian Navy, Coast Guard and some state police departments have done a commendable job. But this won't suffice, our sea routes should never be open to drugs going to any part of the world. The southern route, especially between Makran (near Balochistan) and the Indian Ocean is among the prime routes for trafficking and we need to be more vigilant here as this is worrisome."
"...The drugs get loaded from Pakistan and Iran and get supplied to various places from Sri Lanka to Africa. We need to stop this. Until this is not stopped, we cannot prevent drugs from entering India. We can't breathe easy unless we hurt these networks, hit their finances...," he said.