Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN)
Why in News?
The CBN Rajasthan Unit (Jaipur) intercepted and seized 1.080 kg of premium hydroponic weed (ganja). The contraband arrived from Thailand and was cleverly concealed inside 29 pouches of cakes within an international parcel at the Foreign Post Office (FPO) in Jaipur.
Administrative Structure & Nodal Ministry
- Governing Body: It functions under the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
- Headquarters: Located in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.
- Leadership: The bureau is headed by the Narcotics Commissioner of India.
- Regional Control: Operations across the three legal opium-growing states—Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh—are individually supervised by a Deputy Narcotics Commissioner.
Mandate and Functions
- Licensing & Regulation: The CBN is the sole authority responsible for licensing farmers to cultivate opium poppy for medicinal and scientific use.
- Cultivation Tracking: Bureau officials manually measure and test-check individual farms to ensure no farmer exceeds their allocated land limit.
- Procurement & Processing: CBN procures the entirety of the raw opium gum produced by farmers at state-set rates and transfers it directly to Government Opium Factories located in Ghazipur (UP) and Neemuch (MP).
- International Compliance: The agency regulates the international trade of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, and precursor chemicals under the framework of United Nations Conventions and the NDPS Act, 1985.
Enforcement Operations
- Trafficking Prevention: Beyond state cultivation checkups, the CBN acts as a frontline intelligence agency to investigate, intercept, and prosecute drug syndicates engaged in illegal trafficking.
- Major Operations: A notable recent enforcement action includes Operation Vajra, where the CBN dismantled a sprawling inter-state counterfeit pharmaceutical and illicit manufacturing facility in Bihar.
