Kolkata, June 17 (IANS) In an effort to enhance bilateral cooperation in battling drug trafficking, Anurag Garg, Director General of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), held a meeting with a delegation from the Netherlands led by Marisa Gerards, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to India, on Wednesday.

India’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is working towards a Nasha Mukt Bharat, with the NCB and other agencies playing a major role in preventing the production and trafficking of drugs.

According to sources, Wednesday’s discussions focused on enhancing bilateral cooperation in combating drug trafficking, including exchanges on the prevailing drug situation, legal frameworks, operational challenges, best practices, and emerging threats of mutual concern.

“Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening international cooperation against illicit drug trafficking and organised crime. The possibility of establishing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on narcotics control and cooperation between the respective agencies was also discussed,” the NCB posted on X.

Officials said chemical precursors for designer drugs are often trafficked from India to the Netherlands, while synthetic narcotics such as MMDA and LSD flow back into India through darknet markets.

The NCB has been making continuous efforts to stop the flow of such chemicals and prevent the entry of synthetic drugs from international vendors in the Netherlands.

Agencies from both countries are actively strengthening cooperation, including intelligence sharing on synthetic drug networks and discussions on a possible MoU to tighten controls.

Synthetic drugs have become a major menace in India, with demand rising among educated, urban youths. India is also used as a conduit by traffickers to smuggle synthetic drugs into Bangladesh.

“In some cases, the trafficking of narcotics has been linked to terror financing. India is looking forward to greater global cooperation in tackling the menace,” an official said.

–IANS

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