Overview
- State and central officials announced on July 10 the creation of a permanent interstate coordination mechanism that will link Kerala with Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Puducherry.
- Each participating state and central agency will name a senior nodal officer of at least SP rank to ensure continuous intelligence sharing and to plan joint raids and surveillance.
- Kerala will reinforce specialised narcotics units in all 20 police districts, form a dedicated anti‑narcotics task force, and operationalise NDPS courts in Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram to speed prosecutions.
- The All Kerala Chemists and Druggists Association has offered to monitor suspicious medicine purchases and back stricter prescription and supply checks to help stop diversion of controlled drugs.
- Officials plan regional outreach to formalise cooperation, including a Karnataka minister visit on July 15, and say the network targets new smuggling methods such as couriers, online marketplaces, food‑delivery platforms and consignments dropped from trains.