The Kerala government’s move to set up the State Narcotics Control Bureau (State NCB) under the Excise Department is expected to boost the state’s fight against the growing drug menace. According to Excise sources, the plan is to develop a dedicated wing to track and deal with drug-related cases, freeing up some of the force from other duties, including licensing and enforcement.
The cabinet gave its nod to the proposal on Tuesday, and a government order on the decision is expected in a few days.
The State National Central Bank will operate from the Excise Headquarters with its units in all the 14 districts. According to sources, the plan is to move part of the force to the new wing. The existing excise duty enforcement units and special anti-narcotics units in the districts will be absorbed into the new division.
The State National Central Bank will have a cyber wing and research, analysis and operations divisions.
“Officers with anti-narcotics operations capabilities will be integrated into the NCB division. Although no new position has been created for this purpose yet, the specialized anti-narcotics section has the potential to expand in the future with the ever-increasing challenges related to drug trafficking. The key mandate of the state NCB will be to detect and investigate larger drug trafficking cases, including those with interstate and international links,” the agency said.
The Excise Commissioner will also head the state’s national central bank.
Sources in the Narcotics Control Bureau under the Home Ministry welcomed the excise move and said the dedicated wing could improve efficiency in detection and investigation of drug cases.
“There is already very good cooperation among all agencies involved in anti-drug operations. Agencies including NCB, DRI, Excise and police are helping each other in operations and data sharing. The special wing is expected to improve the effectiveness of excise investigations in drug cases,” said an NCB officer.
Meanwhile, Excise sources stressed the need for required training for members of the proposed new wing to handle large-scale cases. “Narcotics smuggling these days involves a lot of technology including the dark web. Once the state NCB is set up, it also needs to address the loopholes in dealing with such cases,” said an excise official.
Published – 12 March 2026 20:52 IST
