India signed 27 bilateral pacts, 16 MoUs with different countries to prevent drug trafficking: Govt tells Rajya Sabha

Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai shared the information in a written reply in the Upper House of the Parliament.

New Delhi:India has signed 27 bilateral agreements, 15 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and two agreements on security cooperation with different countries for combating illicit trafficking of Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, Rajya Sabha was told Wednesday.

Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai shared the information in a written reply in the Upper House of the Parliament. “Since illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs and its abuse is a translational problem, Government of India has entered into bilateral agreements with 27 countries, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with 16 countries and two agreements on security cooperation for preventing illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursor chemicals.”

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Jayant Chaudhary had put forward a question to the Minister of Home Affairs on whether the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) is aware of large scale trafficking of drugs in Manipur and the actions taken and contemplated to be done thereon. To this, MoS Rai stated in a written reply that NCB on the directions of MHA has identified two places to install vehicle scanners at international border and hinterland of Manipur state to check the movement of drugs.

He added that to resolve various issues on drugs having international implications, “Director General Level Talks and Field Level Officer meeting have been organised between NCB, India and Central Committee on Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC), Myanmar Rai also said that the nexus between Narcotics businesses and terrorist activities is examined on case to case basis.

In order to tackle drug peddling and drugs supply including in Manipur, Government of India has taken steps like introducing NCORD mechanism in 2016 to have effective coordination of actions among various ministries, departments, Central and State law enforcement agencies dealing with narcotics.

Narco Coordination Centre (NCORD) mechanism has been further strengthened by addition of new members at different levels to make it more effective and comprehensive, he stated in the reply. MP Rai also said that a Special Task Force on Darknet and Crypto Currency has been constituted to monitor suspicious transactions related to drugs on Darknet. (ANI)