Make Drone Registration Required to Monitor Use in Drug Smuggling: CM Mann of Punjab
On Monday, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann requested Union Home Minister Amit Shah to make drone registration mandatory, claiming unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were being used for transnational drug and weapon smuggling.
Mann also recommended installing anti-drone equipment or jammers along the international border with Pakistan to prevent the bringing in of narcotics and weapons while participating in a virtual conference on “Drug Trafficking and National Security” presided over by Shah.
To track the origin, destination, and route maps of drones, a cutting-edge regional drone forensic lab may be established in Punjab, especially in Amritsar, he said.
The chief minister informed the union minister of his government’s efforts to combat drug trafficking and smugglers and claimed that Punjab was the first state to set up a specialized task force to successfully enforce anti-drug legislation, catch traffickers, and disrupt the supply chain.
He said that in order to combat the drug threat, his administration has established a three-pronged enforcement-de addiction-prevention (EDP) policy. According to a formal declaration, it entails the enforcement of laws against drug trafficking, the rehabilitation of drug misuse sufferers, and prevention through safeguarding the general public, students, young people, and vulnerable groups.
The Narcotics Control Bureau has been given a parcel of property of 2,000 square yards, according to Mann, and 2.50 acres of land in Amritsar have been granted for the building of a regional office, a zonal residential center, and a laboratory specifically for narco-forensic research.
The chief minister of Punjab also requested access to the customs database so that dubious cargo from other nations could be examined.
In order to stop peddling at the intermediate level, he also argued for a decrease in the commercial amount of heroin from the current 250 grams to 25 grams.
Mann argued that the Union government must generously distribute funding to the states and Union territories for the expansion of the Forensic Science Lab (FSL), since doing so would assist in the states’ fight against the drug epidemic.
He said that up to May 16 of this year, drone-based deliveries resulted in the seizure of 9.5 kg of RDX, 56 hand grenades, 126 handguns and revolvers, 11 AK-47 rifles, and 1,000 kg of heroin.
Since taking office, his administration has implemented a zero-tolerance attitude against narcotics, according to the chief minister, who added that from April 1, 2022, to July 13, 2023, 16,554 instances have been reported under the NDPS Act and 22,349 smugglers have been detained.
Properties worth Rs. 26.72 crore, according to him, have been attached.
