{"id":110094,"date":"2026-06-27T11:01:57","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T05:31:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=110094"},"modified":"2026-06-27T11:01:57","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T05:31:57","slug":"drug-control-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/drug-control-in-india\/","title":{"rendered":"Drug Control in India: Vision Document 2026\u20132029 and NCB Annual Report 2025 Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Drug Control in India Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed the 10th Apex-Level Meeting of th<strong>e <\/strong><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/narco-coordination-centre\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Narco-Coordination Centre (NCORD<\/strong>)<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the meeting, organised by the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/narcotics-control-bureau-ncb\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB)<\/strong><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, he released two key documents: the <\/span><b>Vision Document on Drug Control (2026-2029)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and the <\/span><b>NCB Annual Report 2025<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Together, they set out a time-bound national strategy and map the changing nature of the drug threat facing India.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>The Vision Document on Drug Control (2026-2029)<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This document is a strategic roadmap targeting demand and supply reduction, as well as rehabilitation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The roadmap rests on a simple three-part foundation \u2014 <\/span><b>&#8220;detect, disrupt and destroy.&#8221;<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Core Shift: Dismantling Entire Networks<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The core shift in approach is from chasing individual carriers to dismantling entire networks.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Enforcement will now target suppliers, financiers, handlers, facilitators and the organised syndicates behind them.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A mission-mode campaign aims to identify and dismantle <\/span><b>100 major interstate<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>transnational drug cartels<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> through intelligence-led investigations and coordinated operations.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Whole-of-Government Approach<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The strategy is built around a whole-of-government model.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More than 40 Ministries, central agencies, State governments, district administrations, educational institutions, civil society bodies and ordinary citizens are to work under a single national framework.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Key Specific Commitments<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Legal reform:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The Department of Revenue will amend the NDPS Act and Rules to close loopholes and address regulatory gaps. States have been asked to send suggestions. The amendment also promises a more reformative approach towards drug users and addicts.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Speedy justice:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The MHA is working to set up exclusive NDPS courts for fast convictions in major cases.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Following the money:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Financial investigation will be mandatory in major drug cases. There will be greater use of the <\/span><b>PITNDPS Act<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988) to attach illicit assets and strike at the financial base of trafficking networks.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Global reach<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: States have been urged to pursue traffickers hiding abroad through Red Corner Notices with CBI&#8217;s help.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Technology:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The plan calls for advanced surveillance, anti-drone systems, AI-enabled profiling and container scanning across land, sea and air routes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Synthetic drugs:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Special focus on <\/span><b><i>methamphetamine, mephedrone<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and emerging synthetic drugs, with tighter precursor controls. Chemical and pharmaceutical industries are to adopt voluntary compliance and flag suspicious transactions.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>NCB Annual Report 2025: The Scale of the Threat<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NCB Annual Report 2025 was released during the 10th Apex-Level Meeting of the Narco-Coordination Centre (NCORD) in New Delhi.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The report records an <\/span><b>all-time high<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of over 1.48 lakh cases and seizures of more than <\/span><b>1,200 tonnes<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of narcotics and psychotropic substances.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The seizures range from <\/span><b>plant-based drugs to synthetic substances<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, diverted pharmaceuticals and precursor chemicals \u2014 a sign of how complex the threat has become.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>A Shifting Global Supply: Myanmar Overtakes Afghanistan<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The single biggest change is in where India&#8217;s opium now comes from. Myanmar has overtaken Afghanistan as the leading source of illicit opium.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The reason is twofold: the <\/span><b>Taliban&#8217;s 2022 ban<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> cut Afghan poppy cultivation sharply, while Myanmar&#8217;s cultivation expanded amid conflict and economic collapse.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Its Golden Triangle region \u2014 largely controlled by ethnic armed groups in Shan State \u2014 has become a poly-drug hub, producing both opiates and methamphetamine (Yaba tablets).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>The Eastern Front: The Manipur and Mizoram Corridors<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The northeastern States of Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland face the sharpest exposure.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Free Movement Regime (FMR) and porous, unfenced stretches along the India-Myanmar border have turned these States from peripheral transit zones into active staging grounds for distribution into the Indian heartland.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Two corridors are highlighted:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Manipur corridor<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 through which National Highway 102 passes \u2014 is the most direct entry point and the primary land route for both heroin and methamphetamine tablets.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Champhai corridor<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in Mizoram, near Myanmar&#8217;s Chin State, routes drugs towards Silchar (Assam&#8217;s Barak Valley) via Aizawl.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Crucially, the report links this trade not just to addiction but to arms smuggling and the financing of insurgent and terror groups \u2014 making it a direct internal security concern.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>The Western Front: Drones over Punjab<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On India&#8217;s western border, the Afghan pipeline has not disappeared despite the Taliban crackdown reducing production by 93% from its peak \u2014 an estimated 13,200 tonnes of pre-ban stockpiles continue to feed trafficking routes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The most striking trend here is drone-based smuggling from across the Pakistan border, which has risen five-fold in five years and hits Punjab hardest.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The growth in drone incidents shows the rising operational maturity of these networks:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3 (2021) \u2192 35 (2022) \u2192 28 (2023) \u2192 178 (2024) \u2192 305 (2025) \u2014 roughly a 100-fold rise in five years.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beyond drones, the South Asian arm of the Afghan trade also enters through the land frontier in Punjab and Rajasthan and via the <\/span><b>maritime route along the Gujarat and Maharashtra coasts<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, using fishing vessels and small craft that slip below standard surveillance.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Digital Trafficking: Telegram and Encrypted Apps<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The report flags encrypted messaging apps \u2014 Telegram, WhatsApp and Signal \u2014 as major trafficking channels, with Telegram emerging as a key platform for <\/span><b>drug advertising.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why this is harder to police than the darknet: these apps need no special access and work on any smartphone, lowering the entry barrier.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Enforcement is difficult because of jurisdictional hurdles in getting platforms to cooperate, auto-deletion of messages, use of multiple accounts and layered communication, and cryptocurrency payments that protect anonymity.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Emerging Threats to Watch<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The report singles out two threats needing urgent attention:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Nitazenes <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014 a class of synthetic opioids said to be up to 500 times more potent than heroin.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The deepening link between drug trafficking and organised violence across transit economies.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India is also exposed to a wider global shift marked by ultra-potent synthetic opioids and record cocaine output.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/ncb-annual-report-2025-myanmar-drug-corridor-synthetic-opioids-telegram-10758917\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/government-to-amend-ndps-act-to-plug-loopholes-exploited-by-narco-syndicates-shah\/article71150136.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">TH<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pib.gov.in\/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2277393&amp;reg=3&amp;lang=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">PIB<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Drug Control in India enters a new phase with the Vision Document 2026\u20132029, focusing on cartel disruption, AI surveillance, border security and rehabilitation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":110109,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[8343,60,22,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-110094","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-drug-control-in-india","9":"tag-mains-articles","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs-tag","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110094"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110094\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110112,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110094\/revisions\/110112"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}