Chennai, June 29 (BPNS)

With the menace of drugs increasing by the day, the Tamil Nadu police have chalked out new strategies to curb the drug supply in the state. The state home department has merged the Narcotics Intelligence Wing (NIW) of the state police with the Prohibition Enforcement Wing (PEW) and this will lead to more impetus on the drive against drugs in the state.

With the merger of both the police units, the agencies have got more teeth in achieving the goal of completely eradicating the supply, sale, and consumption of drugs in the state.

Additional Director General of Police, (Crime) Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal who is leading the operations has instructed police officers attached to the Prohibition enforcement wing to ensure special attention near schools and colleges and to prevent any supply and sale of the banned narcotic substances in the campuses. Sources in the police told IANS that the ADGP had directed the Prohibition Enforcement Wing (PEW) to deploy plainclothes officers and shadow squads to prevent the supply of drugs to campuses.

The Prohibition Enforcement Wing is also directed to conduct raids at suspicious locations and places and people who have previous history of supplying and selling the banned substance.

The PEW has units in all the cities and in rural districts as well and the department has made parameters for assessing the performance of the officers. This includes arresting drug peddlers, conducting raids at suspicious places and busting the group involved in supply and sale of drugs, and participating in the drive against drugs.

The Tamil Nadu School education department has instructed the educational institutions in the state to form anti-drug clubs to create awareness against the consumption of drugs as also the evils attached with the use of drugs.

The club members will be checking on the presence of any suspicious persons around the school and immediately report to the Prohibition Enforcement Wing (PEW) officers who will be having a direct link with the club members throughout the school.

The ADGP told media persons that special emphasis has been taken to prevent the supply of ganja from Andhra Pradesh as that state is the main source of supply. He said that the Andhra Pradesh law enforcement agencies and the state government had responded well to the request from the Tamil Nadu side and have seized and destroyed a huge quantity of ganja.

The PEW and other officers are working closely with the Railway Protection Force and the Railway Police to prevent the transport of drugs into the state. The police wing of the railways is conducting surprise checks in long-distance trains to prevent any smuggling of the drug into the state.

Police ADGP also said that 12 habitual offenders were recently taken into custody and are now in judicial custody.