Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh government has issued orders to establish the Elite Anti-Narcotics Group for Law Enforcement (EAGLE) to control the distribution and trafficking of cannabis and other drugs in the state. The headquarters of EAGLE will be located in Amaravati, with unit offices in the districts. To initiate the process, home department principal secretary Kumar Vishwajit issued the GO Ms 145 on Thursday.
The initiative includes setting up a dedicated narcotics police station in Amaravati and district narcotics cells in all 26 districts. The EAGLE task force will focus on controlling the supply and transportation of drugs, investigating crimes and conducting inquiries related to narcotics. The government plans to recruit personnel for EAGLE on deputation, offering a 30 per cent special allowance to uniformed service officers who join the force.
Additionally, the state has proposed establishing five fast-track courts in Visakhapatnam, Rajahmundry, Vijayawada, Guntur and Tirupati to handle narcotics-related cases. An initial budget of `8.59 crore has been allocated for the EAGLE, according to directives issued by the home department.
The EAGLE unit will be equipped with an armoured surveillance and protection system with 249 people in Amaravati head office alone, 66 staff on deputation in each narcotic police station and 144 people to be deployed in district-wise narcotics control cells. The government decided to appoint 12 call takers in the Central Control Room for the management of a 1972 toll-free number, continuous surveillance of seized drugs through CCTVs in the Central Depository and establishment of 26 district narcotics control cells (DNCCs) across AP, one in each district.
