Sharp dip in trafficking of drugs: ICG

The number of drug trafficking cases in the Indian waters dropped sharply in 2023, a year after nine such cases were recorded, a Coast Guard official said as he credited enhanced surveillance and seamless coordination among security agencies for the decline. Bhisham Sharma, IG and Commander Coast Region (West), said the Indian Coast Guard has also deployed more ships on the fringes of the Exclusive Economic Zone and even beyond it after merchant navy vessels were attacked in the Red Sea last year. Officials had earlier said after the withdrawal of the US forces from Afghanistan in 2021, the Indian waters witnessed a rise in the drug trafficking cases.