The Narcotics Control Bureau ( NCB) is an Indian central law enforcement and

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can be des ...

agency under the Ministry of Home Affairs,

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

. The agency is tasked with combating drug trafficking and the use of illegal substances under the provisions of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. Established in 1986, it is responsible for coordination with the Indian state governments and other central departments, implementation of India's international obligations with regard to drug trafficking, and assisting international and foreign drug law enforcement agencies.

Formation

The Narcotics Control Bureau was created on 17 March 1986 to enable the full implementation of The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 and fight its violation through the Prevention of Illicit Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988. The law was established to fulfill India's treaty obligations under the

Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961 (Single Convention, 1961 Convention, or C61) is an international treaty that controls activities (cultivation, production, supply, trade, transport) of specific narcotic drugs and lays down a syste ...

, Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. Officers in this organisation are drawn from Indian Revenue Service, Indian Police Service and Paramilitary forces in addition to directly recruited members.

Organisation

The Narcotics Control Bureau's national headquarters is located in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

, the national capital. Its field units and offices are organised by zones and are located in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

, Indore,

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

, Jodhpur,

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which a ...

, Jammu, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru,

Guwahati Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...

and

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

. The Director General of NCB is mostly an officer from the Indian Police Service (IPS) or the Indian Revenue Service (IRS). Apart from the direct feeder grade, officers in this organisation are also drawn from Indian Revenue Service, Indian Police Service and other Paramilitary forces. The Narcotics Control Bureau is also represented on the Economic Intelligence Council. NCB is affiliated to Home Ministry, which was made responsible for administering The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. The NCB is outside the ambit of the Right to information Act under Section 24(1) of the RTI act 2005.

Functions

The chief purpose of the Narcotics Control Bureau is to fight drug trafficking on an all-India level. It works in close cooperation with the Customs and Central Excise/GST, State Police Department, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB) and other Indian intelligence and law enforcement agencies both at the national and states level. The NCB also provides resources and training to the personnel of India's Drug Law Enforcement Agencies in fighting drug trafficking. The NCB also monitors India's frontiers to track down points where smuggling activities take place with foreign traffickers.

References

{{Law enforcement in India Executive branch of the government of India Indian intelligence agencies Government agencies established in 1986 Federal law enforcement agencies of India Illegal drug trade in Asia Drug policy of India 1986 establishments in Delhi Drug control law enforcement agencies Narcotics Control Bureau Domestic intelligence agencies

Formation

Organisation

Functions

See also

References