CBI leads anti-drug crackdown, 175 held

New Delhi, September 29

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today said it has launched a massive countrywide crackdown on narcotics networks in coordination with the NCB, Interpol and police in various states under code name “Operation Garuda”, leading to the arrest of 175 alleged drug peddlers.

CBI spokesperson RC Joshi in an official statement said that as many as 127 FIRs have been filed by the agencies involved in “Operation Garuda”, which started earlier this week to “disrupt, degrade and dismantle” drug networks with international linkages.

The global operation was planned through a “rapid exchange” of intelligence on narco-trafficking and coordinated actions with enforcement agencies across international jurisdictions through Interpol, the official said.

“The police of eight states and Union Territories, including Punjab, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Maharashtra, and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) tracked around 6,600 suspects during the operation following which 127 cases were registered and around 175 people, including six absconders and proclaimed offenders, were arrested,” the CBI said in the statement.

The agencies targeted smuggling of illicit drugs and psychotropic substances, with a special focus on the Indian Ocean region, it said.

The CBI and NCB worked with intelligence agencies and police of different states for information exchange, analysis and operational information, they said.