The merger of the Narcotics Intelligence Bureau (NIB) with the Prohibition Enforcement Wing (PEW) has given an impetus to the ongoing Drive Against Drugs (DAD) of the Tamil Nadu police. Hundreds of PEW personnel will now join the drive across the State, with more focus on eradicating the menace in educational institutions.
The merger of the two police units was announced by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin in the Assembly. Additional Director-General of Police, Crime, Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal, has instructed police personnel in both the units to work in unison to achieve the goal of completely eradicating the supply, sale and consumption of drugs. A special emphasis would be laid on schools and colleges to ensure that students do not get trapped in the cycle of drug abuse.
In addition to their prohibition enforcement duties, the PEW police would conduct raids and mount surveillance at suspicious locations. Active participation in the drive against drugs and achievements in registration of cases, arrest of drug peddlers and seizures have been made parameters for assessing the performance of officials in the PEW, which has units in all the cities/districts, police sources said.
Anti-drug clubs
Acting on the proposal of Mr. Aggarwal, the School Education Department has instructed educational institutions to establish anti-drug clubs to create awareness of the evils of consuming drugs. The club volunteers would check for suspicious persons or activities in and around their school premises and look for changes in students’ behaviour, which could be a consequence of drug abuse.
Mr. Aggarwal said several measures were taken to curb the smuggling of ganja into Tamil Nadu. Since Andhra Pradesh was the main source of ganja supply, the issue was taken up at the regional coordination committee meeting of law-enforcing agencies recently. The Andhra Pradesh police responded well by conducting intensive combing operations, which resulted in the seizure and destruction of a huge quantity of ganja.
In Tamil Nadu, the NIB police were working closely with the Government Railway Police and the Railway Protection Force personnel to prevent smuggling of ganja by trains. Special teams were formed to conduct joint surprise checks on long distance trains, buses and goods vehicles entering the State, particularly from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Bihar.
About a dozen habitual offenders were detained under the Goondas Act in the last one year. Investigators were attaching the movable and immovable properties of the suspects in the case, considering they were proceeds of the crime, the sources added.
