The Centre has asked all states and Union territories to identify about 16,000 foreign nationals, mostly from African countries, who are "overstaying" in the country and could be involved in crimes including drug trafficking, official sources said on Tuesday. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), the country's federal anti-narcotics agency, has sent a communication to the states and Union territories, asking them to trace such people and take action against them under the amended Foreigners Act that regulates the immigration, entry and stay of foreigners in India. It was found that the visas of these people had expired but they were still in the country and a number of them were indulging in drug-related crimes, the officials said.
According to an NCB report for 2024, a total of 660 foreigners were arrested by various agencies in the country for their alleged links to drug-related crimes. Of them, 203 were from Nepal, 106 from Nigeria, 25 from Myanmar, 18 from Bangladesh, 14 from Ivory Coast and 13 from Ghana, apart from more than 200 others whose nationalities were not identified.