- Operation Trident: A multi-agency crackdown targeting an international drug-trafficking syndicate operating across the India–Myanmar–Bangladesh corridor. Raids on October 23 resulted in 18 arrests, following Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) investigations initiated after the arrest of an alleged Myanmar-based kingpin in Delhi in May 2026.
- Key challenge: Dismantling the entire network requires identifying suppliers in Myanmar and ensuring their successful prosecution, rather than merely arresting carriers and intermediaries.
India’s Drug Control Strategy
- Target and deadline: Union Home Minister Amit Shah has set December 31, 2029, as the deadline to eradicate drug networks across India. The Vision Document on Drug Control (2026–2029), launched at the Narco-Coordination Centre meeting on June 26, 2026, aims to dismantle 100 major cartels and improve prosecution outcomes.
- Whole-of-government approach: The strategy involves States and Union Territories, over 40 Ministries, central agencies and the pharmaceutical sector, reflecting the need for coordinated action against drug trafficking.
- Rising enforcement figures: In 2025, arrests increased by over 50% and cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, rose by nearly 53% compared with 2024. However, these figures alone do not establish whether drug availability or consumption has declined.
Gaps in Anti-Drug Enforcement
- Focus on lower-level operatives: Carriers are often arrested while foreign-based suppliers, financiers and principal operators remain at large. The 2021 Mundra port case in Gujarat, involving the seizure of approximately 3,000 kg of heroin, illustrates this challenge, as the principal Afghanistan-based suppliers have yet to be brought to book.
- Coordination and prosecution: Effective implementation requires sustained coordination among agencies, reliable intelligence-sharing, identification of transnational suppliers and successful prosecution of the key beneficiaries.
- Limits of seizure data: The quantity of drugs seized and the number of arrests are enforcement indicators, but do not independently establish a reduction in drug supply, demand or consumption.
Human Cost of Drug Abuse
- Punjab’s continuing challenge: Drug abuse remains a major public health concern. Alleged drug-related killings of anti-drug activists in Mansa and Gurdaspur, and the alleged suicide of a father in Sangrur who had raised concerns about the easy availability of synthetic drugs, highlight the social consequences of trafficking.
- Protection of whistleblowers: These incidents raise concerns about the safety of citizens who expose drug networks and the need to protect anti-drug activists and witnesses from intimidation and violence.
Way Forward
- Target the financial and leadership networks: Investigations must follow the money trail to identify financiers, ultimate beneficiaries and transnational suppliers, alongside the seizure of drugs and arrest of carriers.
- Strengthen international cooperation: Intelligence-sharing, cross-border investigations and mutual legal assistance are essential to identify and prosecute foreign-based kingpins.
- Measure outcomes, not just enforcement: Evaluate drug-control efforts through indicators such as drug availability, consumption patterns, treatment access, successful convictions and the dismantling of entire trafficking networks.
Relevant Legal Framework
- Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985: India’s principal legislation regulating narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. It provides for controls over specified substances, penalties for prohibited activities and mechanisms to address drug-related offences.
- Narco-Coordination Centre (NCORD): An institutional mechanism for coordinating anti-narcotics efforts among central and State agencies. It seeks to improve information-sharing and coordinated action against drug trafficking.
