THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The top police officials from five south Indian states and two Union Territories will meet in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday to chalk out a joint operation plan against inter-state drug trafficking.
The meeting – to be hosted by Kerala Police as part of Operation Toofan – will discuss and evolve methods to plug gaps in the inter-state borders through which narcotics are being trafficked. Special attention will be paid to synchronise on real-time basis intelligence collection and sharing on drug trafficking to the police forces of all the regions.
Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala wrote on his social media platform that there should be seamless cooperation between police forces of various states to counter drug mafia, which does not distinguish between geographical borders. “In addition to local efforts, the home department is prioritising macro-level, multi-state security coordination to deal with the thread,” he wrote.
Another objective of the meeting is to centralise anti-narcotic activities in south India so that tracking the fund flow in drug business can be done effectively.
Screening of long-distance trains, inter-state buses and courier vehicles will also be discussed. The meeting will also take steps towards enhancing cyber patrolling to identify drug syndicates operating on the dark web. Meanwhile, the state railway police have registered 16 NDPS cases and arrested 14 people during its crackdown against drug peddling taking place in the railway station premises.
