CM urges officials to crackdown on narcotics

Chennai: Stressing on the need for total eradication of narcotic drugs in the State, Chief Minister M K Stalin urged the officials to crack down on the smuggling and use of banned psychotropic substances and tobacco products with increased intensity.

Addressing an advisory meeting on drug eradication at the Secretariat on Thursday, the Chief Minister said the activities of the agencies involved in the prevention of narcotic trafficking and use should be intensified further to make the State totally drug free.

The top police and other officials who took part in the consultation briefed the Chief Minister on the action taken against drug smuggling district wise and also the manner in which the illicit narcotic trade was being carried out in the State.

Stalin urged the officials to intensify the ongoing activities against drug trade that was now being undertaken by the various departments in the State.

The meeting, attended by Chief Secretary Shiv Das Meena, DGP Shankar Jiwal and Chennai Police Commissioner Sandeep Rai Rathore, was organized in the backdrop of allegations by political parties that narcotics were freely available in the State and that the DMK government was not addressing the issue.

The Chief Minister addressing the consultative meeting, in which a wide range of officials from different departments, including the Chief Minister’s principal secretary Muruganantham and ADGP (Law and Order) A Arun, is likely to intensify the ongoing crackdown on narcotic trade.

Since the opposition parties had launched a scathing attack on the ruling party and the government in a bid to make political gains during the April 19 Lok Sabha elections in the State by alleging that drug trade had gone up after the DMK assumed power, the government is out to leave no stone unturned in making the State drug-free.

The top level meeting is perhaps the first step to launch a major action plan against the smuggling and use of drugs and also to create an awareness against drug menace to prevent the younger generation from falling into the trap and also wean away those who had already fallen into it.

Since the DMK was specifically targeted for attack by the opposition parties after one of its former functionaries was accused of involvement in the international drug trade, the government has felt the need to address the issue seriously and is hence activating the police force and other department honchos to take proactive steps against drugs.