Tamil Nadu's Crackdown on Drug Trafficking Yield Results

Chennai: In the year after Chief Minister M K Stalin gave a clarion call for a ‘Drug free Tamil Nadu’ on August 10, 2022, the Enforcement Bureau CID and the State Police not only intensified their crack down on trafficking of narcotics, making huge hauls in the process and arresting offenders, but also confiscated movable and immovable properties of those who profited from the illegal drug trade.

Stalin, while speaking at the State Level Conference on Anti-Drug Abuse in  2022, gave the call to eliminate narcotic drugs from the State, which led to the filing of 10665 cases against 14934 persons in 2022 and another 5358 cases against 7513 persons till June this year, an official press release said on Thursday.

The seizures made during the operations - 28384 kg of dry ganja, 0.556 kg of heron, 63848 tablets and 98 kg of other narcotics in 2022 and 13953 kg of dry ganja, 0.678 kg of heroin, 10564 tablets and 125 kg of other drugs in 2023 – enabled the enforcement authorities to control supply of narcotic substances and psychotropic drugs, the release said.

Besides, financial investigations were launched against 118 persons accused of offences under the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act in 67 cases, which led to the seizure of 33 movable and immovable properties worth Rs 17 crore and the freezing of 3700 bank accounts in the year 2022.

In 2023, the value of the seizure till June stood at Rs 1.15 crore as 12 properties were confiscated from 36 accused while 1256 bank accounts were freezed, the release said.

Also the enforcement authorities took efforts to achieve the goal of ‘demand reduction’ by creating awareness among the youth, specifically school and college students and the general public against drug abuse. Various events under its flagship programme ‘Drive Against Drugs (DAD)’ were held during the one year period.

In continuation of the awareness activity, an Anti-Drug Pledge will be administered to students of all schools, colleges and professional colleges and a State Level Program is being organized at Kalaivanar Arangam, Chennai, on Friday with the Chief Minister administering the pledge and launching various initiatives against drug abuse.

An awareness film against drug abuse and a music album would be released on the occasion, while the Chief Minister would also launch a mass disposal of seized narcotic drugs throughout the State, the release said.