India, Aug. 11 -- The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses from the Centre and others on a plea seeking directions to strengthen the fight against drug trafficking, including a time-bound probe and trial of narcotics cases, confiscation of properties of traffickers and creation of a uniform investigation protocol.

Observing that the problem is "very serious", a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana said coordinated efforts by expert agencies were required to deal with the menace. Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, who has filed the petition, told the bench that a similar issue is already pending before the apex court. "The problem is very serious," the bench observed, adding that some kind of a sol...