THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Setting a model for other states after the high-voltage Operation Toofan, the state government has issued operational clearance to a State Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB), a first of its kind in the country. To be established under the excise department, it’ll be a dedicated agency to tackle drug crimes.
The bureau will function with 389 officers, including 367 redeployed posts and 22 officers assigned additional responsibilities. The excise commissioner will head the agency.
The government approved the bureau after examining recommendations submitted by the excise commissioner. Its headquarters will function from the excise commissioner’s office in Thiruvananthapuram. The additional excise commissioner (Administration), administrative officer and finance officer at the commissionerate will also hold corresponding additional responsibilities in the new bureau.
The state NCB will function through four wings at the headquarters: Operations Wing to lead narcotics enforcement, investigations and field operations; Intelligence Wing to gather and analyse actionable intelligence on drug networks; Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) to study crime patterns, maintain records and support intelligence-based enforcement, and the Cyber intelligence and cyber operations wing to monitor online drug trafficking, digital communications and cyber-enabled narcotics crimes.
Several existing excise officers, including joint excise commissioners, assistant excise commissioners, circle inspectors and excise inspectors, have been given additional responsibilities or redeployed to these wings. Posts from excise headquarters, the excise crime records bureau, the state excise academy and several minor check posts in Thiruvananthapuram have been reassigned to staff the bureau.
One of the major features of the NCB is the establishment of a cyber intelligence and cyber operations wing, which will receive support from technically qualified excise personnel and a proposed cyber volunteer team. The volunteer network may include IT professionals, cybersecurity experts, ethical hackers, digital forensics specialists, data analysts, artificial intelligence experts, academics, students and retired officials. They will provide technical assistance within the legal framework to strengthen cyber surveillance and investigations into online narcotics networks.
The state NCB will also have units in every district. Assistant excise commissioners will be given the additional charge of assistant director (operations) of the state NCB in their respective districts. Officers from district enforcement and anti-narcotics special squads have been redeployed to form district operations units comprising 14 circle inspectors, 14 inspectors, 44 preventive officers, 168 civil narcotic officers, and 51 women civil narcotic officers.
