The Excise Department has taken all steps for strengthening enforcement to prevent the abuse and sale of narcotic drugs like MDMA in the State, Excise Minister M.V.Govindan said in the Assembly here on Tuesday.
He was replying to a calling attention motion by N.A.Nellikkunnu, MLA, who expressed concern over the widespread abuse of narcotic drugs, especially MDMA, in the State in recent times.
Mr. Govindan said the Excise department, with the help of the police and Central agencies such as the Narcotics Control Bureau and the Customs, was taking all possible measures to monitor and prevent the use and sale of narcotic substances in the State. The Excise Department registered the highest number of narcotic offenses in its history in 2021-22 when it booked 4,602 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. The department also seized during the period 7 kg of MDMA, 6,110 kg of ganja, 33.5 kg of hashish oil, 25 gm of heroin, 108 gm brown sugar and 172 gm of charas.
The enforcement arms of the department, ie, the Excise range, circle offices, district-level offices and anti-narcotics special squads and the State Excise Enforcement Squad under the Excise Commissioner, are ably assisted by the State Excise Intelligence wing in monitoring the movement of narcotic drugs within the State.
Mr. Govindan said that the Excise Department was now working closely with the courier and parcel services in the State to track narcotic drugs as it has been found that these services are being widely used to distribute drugs across the State.
He said that enforcement can be strengthened with public participation and by creating awareness of the danger of narcotic abuse among school and college students. The Vimukthi Mission under the aegis of the Excise Department is a new strategy to curb the menace of drug abuse by involving civil society and as part of this initiative, awareness creation against drug abuse had been strengthened through the anti narcotic clubs set up in schools and colleges, the Minister added.
