Kerala accounted for the maximum number of arrests in 2022 made under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act of 1985 by all drug law enforcement agencies. A staggering total of 27,545 individuals were apprehended in the southern state under the NDPS Act last year.
Kerala also accounted for 29.4 per cent of the total number of NDPS-related arrests in the country. Other than Kerala, Maharashtra and Utter Pradesh were the only other states that had more than 10,000 arrests in 2022.
In terms of the number of arrests, Kerala had a 360 per cent rise when compared to its figures in 2016. Cannabis-based drugs account for the lion's share of drugs seized in the state. The number of convictions under the NDPS Act in cases booked by NCB in 2022 in the entire country was only 94, and none of these was in Kerala.
Kerala's top ranking in terms of arrests demonstrates the change in the approach taken by the government to crack down on drugs, but at the same time, it also points to the rising drug menace in the state. Last year, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had announced that habitual drug offenders in the state will be taken into preventive detention.
While speaking on an adjournment motion moved by opposition MLA P.C. Vishnunath, Vijayan called for certain changes in the process of investigating and charge-sheeting in drug cases. Section 31 and Section 31A in the NDPS Act lay down harsher punishment, including the death penalty in certain cases after a previous conviction, for repeat offenders. The government directed law enforcement agencies to include details pertaining to convictions in the past in drug cases while filing the chargesheet in drug cases. He had also announced that a data bank of those involved in drug cases will be maintained.
Last September, the state police launched a new scheme titled 'Yodhaav' to curb the production, supply, and use of drugs. In the following month, the Kerala government launched a state-wide aggressive ‘No to Drugs’ campaign, aimed at creating awareness about the dangers of drug abuse. In the recent budget, the state had set aside Rs15 crore for coordinated anti-narcotics activities.
State Education Minister V. Sivankutty recently admitted that the operations of drug traffickers are mostly centred around schools, and school students are being used as drug carriers. “We are on high alert now. The combined effort of police and excise department will be required to tackle this scenario,” he said.