Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday, 26 June 2026, announced that an effective mechanism will be developed within a state to intensify action against drug traffickers and gangsters hiding abroad — through Red Corner Notices, extradition proceedings, and the CBI.

Shah posted on X: 'विदेश में छिपे ड्रग तस्करों और गैंगस्टरों के खिलाफ रेड कॉर्नर नोटिस, प्रत्यर्पण और CBI के माध्यम से कार्रवाई तेज करने के लिए राज्य में विकसित होगा एक प्रभावी तंत्र।' [Translation: 'An effective mechanism will be developed in the state to intensify action against drug traffickers and gangsters hiding abroad through Red Corner Notices, extradition, and the CBI.']

Context

The announcement signals a coordinated push by the Ministry of Home Affairs to close legal and operational gaps that allow transnational criminals to evade Indian law from foreign soil. Fugitive gangsters and narcotics networks with cross-border linkages have been a persistent challenge for state police forces, which often lack the international reach required to pursue such suspects independently. The proposed mechanism is designed to bridge that gap by bringing CBI and Interpol tools to bear at the state level.

Policy Backdrop

India has been an Interpol member since 1949 and uses Red Corner Notices — international alerts issued to locate and provisionally arrest wanted persons pending extradition — as a primary tool against fugitives abroad. The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985 provides the foundational legal regime for drug enforcement, while India's expanding network of bilateral extradition treaties has been used with increasing frequency against economic offenders and organised crime figures since the 2000s. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), established in 1986, coordinates drug law enforcement and international cooperation at the central level.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has, since the mid-2010s, held regular review meetings with CBI and state police to track fugitives and synchronise intelligence. Shah's statement extends this framework by proposing a dedicated, institutionalised mechanism at the state level — a step beyond ad hoc coordination.

Stakeholders and Impact

State police forces stand to gain direct access to CBI channels for filing extradition requests and triggering Red Corner Notices, reducing procedural delays that have historically allowed fugitives to entrench themselves in foreign jurisdictions. Drug trafficking networks and gangster syndicates operating from countries with which India has extradition arrangements would face a more systematic and faster legal pursuit. Civil society groups and victim communities in states severely affected by drug abuse are likely to view the move as a concrete administrative commitment rather than a policy statement alone.

What's Next

Attention will now turn to implementation: whether the concerned state government, in coordination with the Ministry of Home Affairs and CBI, issues formal standard operating procedures or inter-agency orders to operationalise the mechanism. Subsequent months may also see updates on specific extradition requests filed or joint operations launched under this framework. If the model proves effective, it could be replicated across other states with documented cross-border criminal linkages, shaping a new template for centre-state cooperation in fugitive tracking.