The Bihar Police have established a new bureau as a conclusive measure to stem the emerging threat of the drug trade with an additional director general of police (ADG) in the leadership position. The program is an important move in the fight against narcotics in the state, which has been an issue of concern in recent years.
The bureau will be a specialized institution that exclusively deals with addressing the drug networks and smuggling routes, according to the officials. It will target the supply chain’s identification, interception of smuggling routes, and the organized drug cartels that operate in and out of the state. The bureau will also liaise with national and international organizations such as the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), the excise department and the border forces to break the emerging drug networks.
The establishment of such a bureau is timely because Bihar has been struggling to control the number of drug abuse cases, especially in the border districts bordering Nepal, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. The factors that make these regions vulnerable are because of porous borders and the presence of cross-border syndicates. The officials disclosed that the new unit will not target small-time peddlers alone but will target the heart of bigger trafficking activities.
The senior police officers said that the current methods of surveillance, intelligence-driven operations and financial tracking will help to dominate narcotics. It is not merely about arrests, but the objective is to wipe out the whole ecosystem that facilitates drug trafficking in Bihar, a senior official said.
The bureau will also monitor the movement of drug money and how it is probably connected to other kinds of organized crime. Through the multi-pronged approach, the authorities believe that the crackdown would be long-term and not short-term.
Social organizations and activists have embraced the move and have been expressing their grievances about the increased rate of substance abuse among the youth. There are also all-time rehabilitation support and awareness campaigns that the government has vowed to add to harsh law enforcement.
By establishing the ADG-led bureau, the Bihar Police has indicated that it has decided to take the war against drugs to a whole new level. The next few months will be critical in finding out the level of success with which this strategy can be transformed into on-the-ground success.
