We Might Need A Sri Lanka Type Drug Clean Up In Tamil Nadu

Days after the busting of a part of film producer and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) functionary Jaffar Sadiq’s drug cartel, news from Tamil Nadu has been filled with reports of drug seizures of large quantities.

Drugs worth Rs 1,200 crore that were destined for the state, were seized by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in the high seas on 28 February.

Following that Rs 180 crore worth of methamphetamine and Rs 108 crore worth of hashish were seized by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in Madurai and Rameswaram on 1 March and 5 March respectively.

Both these consignments were to be transported to Sri Lanka.

Though Sadiq was expelled by the party after the revelations, the magnitude of the back to back seizures and his connections with the ruling party and film industry raise concerns about the issue.

Pictures of him with Chief Minister M K Stalin, his son Udhayanidhi Stalin, and other DMK leaders like Rajya Sabha MP M M Abdulla have gone viral on social media.

He is considered to be close to film director Ameer Sultan.

The opposition parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), have taken on the DMK in a big way over the issue.

BJP state president K Annamalai released a video stating that people had to take up the matter in their own hands as the DMK is allegedly hand in glove with the drug cartel and could not be expected to take suitable action.

The AlADMK organised protests across the state on 5 March against the state government's failure to curb the drug menace.

While all of these have helped further the prevailing narrative of the DMK government being corrupt and could help the opposition in its quest to win more Lok Sabha seats in the state, it is important to note that seizures of drugs here and there, every few days is unlikely to solve the problem.

It might be time for a large scale statewide operation like what Sri Lanka has been doing but with adequate safeguards in place.

Earlier, last month, the Sri Lankan government announced that under its 'Operation Yukthiya' against drugs, it had arrested 50,000 criminals and seized drugs worth 7,733 million Sri Lankan rupees.

It also confiscated assets worth 726 million Sri Lankan rupees.

The operation, against which there have been complaints of human rights violations and arbitrary arrests, was started on 17 December and is scheduled to be completed by 30 June.

In crimes of such nature, where additional angles like money laundering and terror funding too need to be probed, the involvement of multiple central agencies like the NCB, DRI, Enforcement Directorate, and the National Investigation Agency is required.

It is thus important that all of them take strict action in a coordinated manner to clean up the mess.

Cooperation with Sri Lanka is also the need of the hour as in many cases, the drugs seized have been found to be destined for that country.