Explained: What is NCB, its mission, how does it fight drug trafficking?

Here is a primer on the NCB, its functions and responsibilities:

What is the NCB?

The NCB is the central law enforcement and intelligence agency under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. The agency, established on March 17, 1986, is tasked with combating drug trafficking and the use of illegal substances under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance (NDPS) Act, 1985.

Based in Delhi, the NCB is headed by a director general, Satya Narayan Pradhan, a 1988-batch Indian Police Service officer of the Jharkhand cadre.
Officers of the NCB are drawn from the IPS, Indian Revenue Service, and paramilitary forces, in addition to being directly recruited.

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The NCB functions as an enforcement agency through zones and sub-zones. The zones are located in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Indore, Jammu, Jodhpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Patna. The sub-zones are located in Ajmer, Amritsar, Bhubaneswar, Dehradun, Goa, Hyderabad, Imphal, Mandsaur, Madurai, Mandi, Raipur, Ranchi and Kochi.

What is the NDPS Act, 1985?

Enacted in 1985, the NDPS Act is the primary legislation to deal with drug trafficking in the country. The Act has been amended thrice – in 1989, 2001 and 2014.

The Act prohibits "the manufacture, trade, use, of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances" except for medical and scientific purposes. It also lists stringent provisions against manufacturing, sale, purchase, possession, consumption, abuse and trafficking of drugs and prescribes punishment for violators

The law was enacted to fulfil India’s obligations as a signatory to various international conventions on narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances such as the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, to prevent the use of drugs and illicit trafficking.

What is the mission of the NCB?

The NCB is responsible for coordination with other central departments and state governments in connection with the enforcement of the NDPS Act to fight drug trafficking across the country.

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With a motto of “intelligence, enforcement, coordination,” the NCB -envisions a “drug-free society” through its mission to “prevent and combat abuse and illicit traffic of drugs,” according to its website.

“Over the years, NCB has generated quality intelligence leading to detection and disruption of organized drug trafficking groups. It has also been acting as a coordinating entity between various narcotics and drug law enforcement agencies within the country and also as India’s nodal point with international agencies like UNODC, INCB etc.,” reads the director general’s statement on NCB website.

UNODC is short for United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and INCB stands for International Narcotics Control Board .

It is also responsible for implementation of India’s international obligations with regard to drug trafficking and assists overseas drug law enforcement agencies, according to a note on the NCB website. It coordinates actions taken by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and other ministries and departments and organisations on matters related to drug abuse.

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The NCB also provides resources and training to personnel of law enforcement agencies in fighting drug trafficking. It monitors the borders to keep track of points where drugs are smuggled by foreign traffickers.

How does the NCB operate?

The NCB is the national contact point for intelligence and investigations. Affiliated to the Union Ministry of Home, which is responsible for administering the NDPS Act, the NCB coordinates with central and state agencies engaged in drug law enforcement.

The zones and subzones collect and analyse data related to seizure of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, study trends and the modus operandi of traffickers, collect and disseminate intelligence and work closely with the Customs department and and Central Excise/Goods and Services Tax authorities, state police, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB) and other intelligence and law enforcement agencies both at the national and state level.

The bureau works towards collection and dissemination of information, prepares national drug enforcement statistics and coordinates with international agencies such as United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP), INCB, INTERPOL, Customs Cooperation Council and the Regional Intelligence Liaison Office (RILO) of the World Customs Organisation.

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The NCB is also represented on the Economic Intelligence Council, the apex forum overseeing government agencies responsible for economic intelligence and combating economic offences in India.

Drug use in India

A 2019 report of the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment prepared by the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre (NDDTC) of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) revealed that cannabis and opioids are the most commonly abused substances in India after alcohol.

The report, titled Magnitude of Substance Use in India, said it had found in its research that as many as 31 million individuals had used a cannabis product in the previous year and 22. 6 million had confessed to having used opioids, which includes opium and its variants, heroin or smack or brown sugar, and a variety of pharmaceutical opioids. Nationally, an estimated 850,000 people inject drugs, the report said.