New Delhi, Jun 26: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday unveiled a three-year roadmap to dismantle India’s drug cartels, saying the government would strike the narcotics ecosystem so decisively that it would not recover for decades.
Chairing the 10th apex-level meeting of the Narco-Coordination Centre (NCORD), Shah launched the Vision Document on Drug Control (2026-29), outlining a strategy centred on ‘Detect, Disrupt and Destroy’ to target drug trafficking, narco-financing, synthetic drugs, and cross-border networks.
The Home Minister also released the ‘NCB Annual Report-2025’ and e-inaugurated NCB zonal offices in Jammu and Guwahati.
Shah also launched the ‘Online Drugs Disposal Fortnight Campaign’ for the destruction of narcotics weighing 2,09,500 kg and valued at Rs 6000 crore.
In his address, the Home Minister said that today India stands at a critical turning point in the fight against narcotics, where the next three years will decide “whether addiction will defeat us or we will defeat addiction”.
He said that for the future of the country over the next 100 years, “we must win this battle with firm determination and collective efforts”.
“This fight cannot be waged by any single department, state, government, or individual. Instead, all states and their concerned departments must come together on a single platform,” the Home Minister said. “In this fight, we must also involve people who inspire the public, the youth who will shape the nation’s future, and our women power. Only then can we achieve complete success in this battle.”
Shah emphasised that the issue of narcotic drugs was not merely a matter of law and order or public health.
He said it was deeply connected to the country’s internal security, social stability, protection of economic interests, and the future of the youth and, through them, the future of the nation.
“Achieving complete victory over this problem should be a collective national goal for all states of India,” the Home Minister said.
He said that along with drug trafficking, organised crime, narco-terror financing, and the funding of cross-border terrorist networks, this problem had also evolved into an evolving narco-terrorism ecosystem.
“For the internal security of our country, the protection of our economy, and the future of our youth generation, we must achieve complete victory over this menace. We are geographically situated between the Death Triangle and the Death Crescent. Drug traffickers have made our fight even more challenging by adopting advanced methods such as drone-based drops, containerized cargo through sea routes, the Darknet, crypto payments, order-to-delivery models, parcel shipments, and other similar techniques,” Shah said. “Today, narco-offenders have become technology-empowered and network-based. They now confront us as a form of multi-domain crime. Our response to this difficult battle must also be collective and organized, roadmap-based, modern, and intelligence-led. Our approach should be technology-driven, and we must wage a network-centric war with a ruthless approach. Only then will we be able to secure victory against this problem.”
The Union Home Minister said, “We must maintain a ruthless approach towards those involved in drug trafficking and a sympathetic approach towards the victims of drugs.”
He said that compassion and goodwill that can reconnect these children with a normal life.
“We have to hold their hand and guide them back onto the right path,” Shah said.
He said that in the presentation made here today, the fight has been very clearly articulated under four pillars, and sub-pillars under each pillar have also been clearly defined.
“Targets have been set for each sub-pillar along with the timelines to achieve them. We will review this plan after one year, redefine it as needed, and then move forward with renewed strength for the final two years of this battle,” the Home Minister said.
He said that the Drug Disposal Fortnight had begun today.
Shah said that destroying drugs worth Rs 6000 crore in a single day was a significant achievement.
“Today, the Annual Report of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) was also released. Along with this, the Vision Document of the Roadmap for NashaMukt Bharat was also unveiled. The Guwahati and Jammu Zonal Offices of the NCB were also inaugurated today. So far, 15,876 district-level NCORD meetings, 266 state-level meetings, seven Executive Committee meetings, and today we are holding the 10th meeting at the apex level. Chief Secretaries and Directors General of Police of all states should make concerted efforts to make NCORD meetings result-oriented,” the Home Minister said.
He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set the vision of a Viksit Bharat by 2047 and had also given the target of Nasha Mukt Bharat.
“The roadmap from 2026 to 2029 prepared to achieve this goal is based on four major pillars – Enforcement, Intelligence and Operations; Precursors and Synthetic Drug Control; Demand and Harm Reduction; and Capacity Building, Coordination and Monitoring. Its aim is to conduct targeted intelligence-led action against the entire network and destroy it completely. We have to adopt a strategy to stop drugs at the production stage itself. The campaign for demand reduction and harm reduction will be taken forward through society, education and rehabilitation. The fourth pillar of Capacity Building, Coordination and Monitoring has been created to make the entire system capable, coordinated, accountable and modern. This roadmap has been prepared keeping in mind the Whole of Government Approach and Whole of Society Approach. It includes the role of every citizen of India, but the work of inspiring citizens will have to be done by all State Governments and Secretaries of all Departments of the Government of India. The success of this roadmap and the timely achievement of its targets is a shared responsibility and a proper monitoring mechanism has also been put in place,” Shah said.
He said that the fight against drugs could be described in three words – Detect, Disrupt and Destroy.
“We have to move forward to destroy all three types of cartels — those who bring drugs from abroad into the country, those who supply them from the borders to the states, and those who distribute them from states to the end users — by using HUMINT, technical intelligence, and community policing in border and sensitive districts. All our financial agencies must work in full coordination to prepare a joint programme for monitoring the Dark Web, hawala transactions, crypto transactions, and usage of ports and airports. Under Disrupt, we must hit the drug traffickers at every level — their sources, transit routes, financing, and leadership — with full force of the law. We need to launch a campaign to destroy illegal crops. Agencies must develop a system to identify illegal laboratories and destroy them strictly. We also need to find ways to counter the new method of controlled delivery operations and, with continuous improvements, monitor and take them to their logical conclusion,” the Home Minister said.
He said that through PMLA and ED, there is a need to conduct financial investigations against drug traffickers very ruthlessly.
“It is also our responsibility to dismantle their networks through this. Under Destroy, we must ruthlessly finish the networks in such a way that they do not rise again. The kingpins who are caught must not be allowed to escape. All necessary provisions for this are already available in our laws. Through de-addiction and rehabilitation, we have to reduce the demand side and move towards destroying the supply side. This entire roadmap has been prepared on the foundation of these three words — Detect, Disrupt and Destroy,” Shah said.
He said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, all ministries of the Government of India, all states, and all departments will have to collectively move forward to implement a policy of zero tolerance against drugs on the ground.
“In major NDPS cases, financial investigation must be made mandatory by the State Police Chiefs. The entire process of identifying proceeds of crime, freezing them, seizing them, and ensuring they do not return to the accused even from jail will have to be made evidence-based and equipped with modern technology. The Ministry of Home Affairs has also taken up the matter with all High Courts to set up special courts, ensure adequate number of judges, and give priority to daily hearings in major cases for early disposal. We will not be able to effectively follow the money trail until we ensure real-time sharing of information. Therefore, real-time data sharing must be ensured,” the Home Minister said.
He also said that there was a need to review the scheduling of precursors and psychotropic substances and ensure effective action against narco-financing.
Shah said that the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment must expand the NashaMukt Bharat campaign, public awareness drives, community participation, and treatment and rehabilitation services.
He said that only then can the demand be reduced successfully.
The Home Minister said that the Ministry of Health must ensure strict monitoring of pharmaceutical diversion and online pharmacies.
He said that under the Ministry of Education, the Departments of School Education and Higher Education must adopt the Drug-Free Campus framework.
Shah said that along with this, there is a need to ensure awareness among parents and teachers by taking this concept forward with everyone’s consensus.
He said that NCRB, NFSU, DFSS, I4C, and NATGRID will have to do extensive work at their respective levels for cartel identification.
“States should convert their ANTFs into full-time units and transform them into dedicated, well-resourced, equipped and accountable units. The State Police Chiefs must take personal interest in this. In cases involving commercial quantities of drugs, financial investigation and backward-forward linkages must become a crucial part of our investigations, because without this we cannot destroy the entire network. State and district-level NCORD meetings should be made output-oriented and monitored very effectively. We must move towards appointing Special Public Prosecutors for strong chargesheets and effective prosecution. State Police Chiefs should approach the High Courts through their Home Departments to establish exclusive NDPS courts. For demand reduction, treatment, rehabilitation, awareness programmes, and to create awareness among parents, professors and teachers, every state should appoint a nodal officer in each department. Along with this, through the CBI we have launched a campaign to bring back fugitives, in which we have achieved very good success. I also urge all State Governments that those drug traffickers and gangsters from your states who are hiding abroad should be targeted by issuing Red Corner Notices, utilising the CBI and other agencies to initiate the process of bringing them back,” the Home Minister said.
He said that between 2004 and 2014, drugs worth Rs 40,000 crore — 26 lakh kg of synthetic drugs — were seized.
Shah said that in contrast, from 2014 to 2026, drugs worth Rs 1,84,000 crore — 1 crore 18 lakh kg — had been seized.
The Home Minister said that this shows that the campaign was moving forward successfully.
“From 2004 to 2014, drugs worth Rs 8000 crore (3,26,000 kg) were destroyed, whereas between 2014 and 2026, drugs worth Rs 89,896 crore (42,47,000 kg) had been destroyed. Similarly, we have continuously increased the destruction of illegal cultivation. In 2020, 10,000 acres of illegal opium crops were destroyed, while in 2025 we destroyed 42,282 acres. Between 2004 and 2014, there were 1,73,000 cases in which 1,95,000 arrests were made. From 2014 to 2026, 8,75,000 cases have been registered and 10,97,000 people have been arrested. These figures prove that when we make sincere efforts, success is definitely achieved. The Modi Government has made our efforts specific, focused the targets, made them time-bound, and after identifying all aspects of the fight against drugs, we have prepared this roadmap,” he said. “If wil fight this battle together and in unity, victory will definitely be ours. In the next three years, we will make massive progress towards eliminating the drug networks in India. If all of us set a clear target for these three years, work hard with collective efforts, and move forward with fixed timelines and a shared strategy, then our victory is certain.”
