KOCHI: It will not be easy for people getting arrested in drug cases in any of the southern states to shift their operational base to another state as they will be under the prying eyes of narcotics enforcement agencies of that state.
In a major move to prevent drug traffickers from shifting base between the southern states – Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana-- the narcotics enforcement agencies of these states have decided to form a common platform where they will share the details of offenders and take necessary steps to check activities of inter-state drug rackets.
A high-level meeting of narcotics enforcement agencies of southern states was held in Chennai on November 25 to chalk out a detailed plan in this regard.
The meeting decided that all state agencies will appoint a nodal officer for better coordination and sharing of intelligence between the states. State Excise Commissioner S Ananthakrishnan, who attended the meeting from Kerala, said coordination between the states will be strengthened to counter the activities of drug rackets. “The move will help the agencies track the members of inter-state rackets,” he said.
Narcotics agencies of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have been on the alert after a few inter-state rackets were busted in Kerala for smuggling in psychotropic drugs like Ketamine, LSD and MDMA.
“Organised rackets are operating within southern states to push these drugs to various parts of the state. The members of these rackets frequently switch base in the southern states to avoid detection,” said a senior excise officer. Narcotics agencies and state police were able to track the activities of a major racket when they busted a gang in 2018.