AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat government in the Assembly on March 17 revealed that the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) seized a staggering Rs 482 crore worth of narcotics from the state's waters in the past two years.
As of December 31, 2024, the haul includes 60.3 kg of methamphetamine valued at Rs 422.12 crore, 173 kg of charas worth Rs 60.55 crore, and 460 grams of heroin pegged at Rs 2.3 crore.
The government also admitted that only six individuals have been arrested in connection with these drug smuggling cases so far.
The Home Ministry replied to a query by BJP’s Jamnagar North MLA Rivaba Jadeja in the Gujarat Assembly.
The government had earlier responded to a query in the Lok Sabha in February 2025, revealing a fluctuating yet alarming trend in NDPS-related arrests over the past six years.
The crackdown saw 453 arrests in 2019, rising to 495 in 2020 before surging to a peak of 876 in 2021. While the numbers dipped slightly to 849 in 2022 and 803 in 2023, they remained significantly high, with 757 individuals arrested in 2024.
While the government has cracked down hard on drug-related crimes with hundreds of arrests under the NDPS Act, conviction rates remain glaring.
Official data presented in the Lok Sabha revealed a significant gap -- the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) secured just one conviction in 2019, followed by four in 2020, four in 2021, two in 2022, a marginal spike to 11 in 2023, and back to four in 2024 (provisional data) despite soaring arrests.
The stark contrast raises serious questions about the effectiveness of the prosecution in the fight against drug trafficking.
However, the government has set up a four-tier Narco-Coordination Centre (NCORD) to boost coordination between central and state drug enforcement agencies.
An integrated NCORD portal has also been launched to streamline drug law enforcement data.
To track major drug bust investigations, a Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) led by the NCB Director General has been established, reinforcing India’s crackdown on narcotics.