Panaji, Oct 26: Stating that international tourists and labourers bring drugs to the coastal state, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Wednesday that the state government is using the best practices to crack down on narcotics rackets.
After attending a virtual meeting with Amit Shah, Sawant said the Union Home Minister has taken cognisance of Goa’s detention centre and deporting process and has asked other states, which attended the meeting, to implement similar practices.
“The Anti-Narcotic Cell (ANC) is working in the best way to control drug trafficking. Migrant labourers bring drugs (like ganja, charas etc.) in buses and trains. International tourists also bring drugs to Goa. The government is taking the necessary steps to crack down on this,” Sawant said.
“The Union Home Minister guided us during the meeting on controlling drug trafficking. Discussions took place on the best practices and views of all states were taken,” Sawant said.
“Our nation should be drugs-free. For zero tolerance towards drugs, we should work as Team India,” Sawant told reporters here.
“The Home Minister has taken cognisance of Goa’s detention centre and told the other states to create similar detention centres and deport foreigners (staying illegally) like the way Goa does,” he said.
Sawant said that last year, 161 cases (drugs related) were registered and narcotics worth more than Rs 4.5 crore were seized.
“We will not tolerate drugs in the state. We want a drug-free Goa. The ANC is spreading awareness against drugs,” Sawant added.
“Since 2019, we have deported 129 foreign nationals. Earlier, 700 Nigerians were staying illegally, now only 50 are remaining. We have deported 650 of them,” the Chief Minister said.
In 2013, the state government had started acting against foreign nationals staying illegally in Goa after over 200 African nationals had blocked NH 17 at Porvorim, 5 km from capital Panjim, for nearly an hour. They were trying to take away the body of a Nigerian who was found murdered from an ambulance.
The incident took place after the body was found in Parra, a village adjoining the beach village of Calangute, which is notorious for being Goa’s narco-tourism capital.
