MADURAI: Expressing concern over the lack of financial investigation into narcotic cases in Tamil Nadu and insufficient manpower in specialised agencies like NIB-CID, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has issued a series of directions to the state government and the Director General of Police to ensure financial profiling of persons accused in narcotic cases for probing proceeds of crime and forfeiture of illegally acquired properties of the offenders.
Further observing that more than 50% of NDPS cases reported in Tamil Nadu are arising out of three districts- Madurai, Theni, and Dindigul, Justice B Pugalendhi also suggested the formation of a structured coordination mechanism and database with the help of the respective village administrative officers to monitor the movements of accused hailing from these three districts.
The judge also recommended several other measures, such as increasing the manpower of NIB-CID, creating cyber cells within the agency, designing a dedicated dashboard for the agency by the State Crime Records Bureau, permitting the agency to use TN Special Battalion Force for periodical frisking operations in buses and other vehicles to prevent smuggling from neighbouring states, and improving coordination between local police and NIB-CID, among others.
"The efficacy of the NDPS regime lies not merely in enforcement, but in the ability of the system to anticipate, coordinate, and dismantle the structures that sustain the offence," Justice Pugalendhi observed. He also pointed out that mere arrest and seizure would not be sufficient to combat drug trafficking. "Unless the economic foundations of such criminal activity are dismantled, the enforcement efforts will remain ineffective, and the aim of a drug-free society cannot be achieved," he added.
The judge issued the above suggestions while granting bail to persons who were convicted for narcotic offences reported in Madurai, Theni, and Dindigul districts. The convicts had moved the court seeking suspension of their sentences, citing delays in the disposal of their appeals against their convictions and sentences.
During the hearing, the judge found that over the past 10 years, nearly 12,000 NDPS cases have been recorded in the three districts above alone.
While Madurai city, district police, and the NIB-CID recorded 3,050, 2,638, and 926 cases in the past 10 years (upto March 2026), Theni's district police and NIB-CID division registered 2,260 and 968 cases respectively, whereas the Dindigul district witnessed 1,947 narcotic cases in the past decade, the judge noted, highlighting that the local police have registered more narcotic cases than the special agency.
