Revision summary
Drug cartels create addiction, gangs, and a cash parallel to the legal economy. Routes overlap with weapons and, in some areas, with insurgency finance. NDPS and NCB are the criminal and coordinating core. PMLA and FATF-aligned rules chase hawala and shell firms. Coastal security tries to close sea routes used after 26/11 lessons.
Model answer
Introduction
Narcotics and organised crime are not only street offences. They buy politicians, arm gangs, and fund terror, which is why they sit on the internal-security file.
Body
Threats
- Heroin, methamphetamine, and pharmaceutical diversion create addiction, gang turf, and a parallel cash economy.
- Cartels use the same routes as weapons and fake currency: the Golden Crescent, Golden Triangle, and sea lanes to the west and east coasts.
- Money is layered through hawala, shell firms, and trade mis-invoicing, which weakens banks and the tax base.
- In some theatres, drug money and organised crime overlap with insurgency or communal muscle, so policing becomes a sovereignty problem, not only a health problem.
Measures
- The NDPS Act, 1985, is the core criminal statute; NCB is the central narcotics agency that coordinates with states and foreign counterparts.
- Financial Intelligence Unit, PMLA, and FATF-aligned rules attack the money trail; listing and seizure matter more than a single arrest.
- Coastal security after 26/11 — marine police, Coast Guard, and port controls — aims to shut dhow and container routes.
- Demand-side de-addiction, precursor control, and dark-net monitoring have to sit beside seizures, or the market simply relocates.
Control is therefore law plus money plus coast, or the crime network regenerates.
Flow diagram
Conclusion
Drugs and organised crime threaten health, money, and in places the State’s monopoly of force. NDPS, NCB, FATF-style financial rules, and coastal security are the main tools; they work as a set, not as one raid.
Quick related
Students also ask
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"Security is development and development is security." Analyze the symbiotic relationship from India's security perspective.
Next question in the 2025 paper (Q19). View answer →
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Is drug crime only a health issue?
Health is one face. Gangs, money laundering, and possible terror finance make it an internal-security issue.
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Can seizures alone win?
No. Precursors, dark-net sales, and hawala survive unless the money trail and demand are also hit.
Same topic · past papers
UPPSC has asked this before
These previous-year questions sit on the same topic. Open one to practise the earlier ask.
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2020 · Q18 · UPGS3 · 12 marks
Describe in detail the issues of nuclear proliferation and the existing control mechanism.
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