Dehradun, Dec. 16 -- The state police department will extend its flagship anti-narcotics campaign, "Drug-Free Devbhoomi 2025", into 2026, senior officers said, underlining that the force remains committed to making the hill state free from drugs. Additional director general of police (law and order) V Murugesan said the mission has shown encouraging results over the past few years and will now continue beyond its original timeline. "Our mission to make Uttarakhand drug-free by 2025 will now be extended to 2026. We are on the right track and have achieved significant success under this initiative. Several seizures and arrests have been made, and we are hopeful of sustaining this momentum in the coming year," Murugesan said. The state police had announced on January 1 this year that it would intensify efforts to eliminate drug abuse and trafficking in the state under the "Drug-Free Devbhoomi Mission 2025". The campaign was launched in line with the vision of chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami to make Uttarakhand drug-free. In August 2022, following directions from the chief minister, the state police constituted a three-tier Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) to wage a concerted war against drugs. At the state level, the ANTF functions under the supervision of the additional director general of police/inspector general of police (crime), with the senior superintendent of police (Special Task Force) acting as the nodal officer. At the district level, the superintendent of police (crime) or superintendent of police (operations), under the supervision of the district SSP or SP, serves as the nodal officer, while at the police station level, the station house officer heads the anti-narcotics efforts. Like other police personnel, officers of the state-level ANTF have powers of search, seizure and arrest under the CrPC and other relevant laws, along with the authority to confiscate properties of drug traffickers and register cases in any police station as per legal provisions. In October, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that the three-tier anti-narcotics force had taken action against more than 6,199 drug dealers over the past three years and seized narcotics worth around Rs.275 crore. Murugesan, in September, had directed senior police officials across the state to expedite investigations and ensure swift disposal of pending cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. During a review meeting held via video conferencing with police chiefs of the Garhwal and Kumaon ranges and district heads, the ADG instructed officers to personally monitor cases and ensure time-bound investigations. He also asked the state-level ANTF, which functions under the Special Task Force, and district-level ANTF units to intensify surveillance, strengthen intelligence gathering, enhance recoveries and make checking drives more effective. According to police data, in 2024 alone, the police registered 35 FIRs under the NDPS Act, arrested 62 accused and seized significant quantities of narcotics, including 7.525 kg of smack, 24.458 kg of cannabis resin, 5.322 kg of opium, 300 kg of poppy husk, 77.350 kg of cannabis, 1,600 drug-laced injections and 7 grams of MDMA (methylenedioxymethamphetamine)....