CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu registers the highest number of cases in connection with the smuggling of cigarette and banned tobacco products in India, according to the Crime In India 2021 report released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). In 2021, TN registered 46,433 cases, which is over 17 times more than runner-up Kerala with 2,646 cases.
Police attribute the rise in cases registered under ‘The Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act’ to the heavy crackdown on contraband in Tamil Nadu. According to NCRB data, among metropolitan cities, Chennai and Coimbatore recorded the most cases — Chennai, 2,637 cases and Coimbatore, 1,341. Under the NDPS Act, Tamil Nadu registered 6,852 cases in 2021, whereas it was 2,397 cases in 2020.
Speaking to TNIE a senior police officer said: “The data show the ‘Drive Against Drugs’ initiative is a success. The numbers are high because we are reporting the cases.” Asked about ways to curb supply of drugs, V Priyamvadha, Professor of Criminology at University of Madras, said there were studies of crime based on Geographic Information System (GIS). “Data collected will mark main hotspots in the State where the contraband are exchanging hands. The data can also change periodically on the system, providing police with places to increase surveillance,” she said.
In December 2021, the TN police organised many searches to stem the sale of drugs, gutkha, and lottery across the State. During the drive, the Chennai police arrested 6,623 offenders involved in procuring and selling of banned substances within in just a week.
The State government inaugurated the ‘Drug-free Tamil Nadu’ scheme on August 11, asking the people spread awareness on the ill-effects of drugs and promising them that the government would handle the offenders. Chief Minister MK Stalin, during the inauguration of the scheme, said since the DMK party came to power, around 41,000 offenders were arrested and their properties, worth `50 crore, were confiscated.
