Punjab: Drug money raises concerns before Assembly election
New Delhi, Sep 22 (IANS) Months before Assembly elections are due in Punjab, concerns remain despite crackdowns over a section’s amoral engagement with narcotics that refuses to end, with regular reports of drugs being confiscated and narco-terrorism busted.
Even on Tuesday, as New Delhi hosted the third National Conference of the Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF), Punjab reported similar incidents.
Of 73 districts classified by the Union government as “ultrasensitive” and 274 “sensitive” in a crackdown as part of the Nasha Mukt Bharat (Drug-free India) campaign, six of these in Punjab fall under the former category.
Among Punjab’s “ultrasensitive” districts are Amritsar, Fazilka, Ferozepur, Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran along the Pakistan border, with the industrial hub of Ludhiana marked as the sixth.
The Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab government has reportedly intensified its Yudh Nasheyan Virudh, where reports suggest that 73,541 Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS), 1985, cases were registered between 2022 and the end of April 2026. This is an increase of more than 40 per cent from 52,255 cases in 2017–21.
Meanwhile, authorities made 98,596 arrests in the same period, a nearly 45 per cent rise from 68,064 earlier. The administration claimed the increase in numbers was the result of sustained, large-scale action against drug trafficking networks across the state.
On Tuesday itself, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested a narcotics smuggler in Delhi, connected with the large-scale import of heroin concealed in semi-processed talc, and the seizure of contraband across Delhi, Punjab and Haryana, reports said.
Earlier, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had filed six charge sheets against multiple accused for conspiring with an international drug smuggling syndicate based out of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Dubai, operating under mastermind Vitaysh Koser alias Raju Dubai, a wanted accused, along with Pakistani ISI agents and Afghan nationals.
In another incident the same day, Haryana Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) unearthed a crucial case linked to an international narco-terrorism network with the arrest of seven accused. The investigation revealed that proceeds to the tune of Rs 74 crore generated from the illegal sale of narcotic drugs had been transferred via hawala to Afghanistan and used for funding terrorist activities, reports said.
Official records confirm that Punjab is the primary gateway for narcotics trafficked from Afghanistan via Pakistan, with NCB reports indicating massive seizures and drone-based smuggling incidents along the state’s border.
To strengthen the Centre-State framework to dismantle drug-trafficking networks, the Union government has taken various measures, according to a statement from the Home Ministry.
Trends of cross-border narcotics infiltration reveal that drug trafficking syndicates operating from across the border have increasingly been employing sophisticated methods such as drones, GPS-enabled consignments, encrypted communications and local receiver networks to infiltrate heroin, methamphetamine, arms and ammunition into India.
Since 2021, drone-assisted drug trafficking has witnessed an exponential rise, making Punjab the most affected border state in the country, stated Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai in the Rajya Sabha recently.
In 2025 alone, 305 drone-related drug trafficking incidents were reported nationwide, of which 298 occurred along the Punjab border, resulting in the seizure of about 460 kg of narcotic drugs, including 448 kg of heroin, 9 kg of methamphetamine and 3 kg of opium. This reflects the concentration of this emerging threat in the state, he emphasised.
The government is extending comprehensive support to combat trans-border narcotics trafficking through measures such as deploying advanced anti-drone systems along vulnerable stretches, installing enhanced surveillance systems including hi-tech cameras, and installing new-design fencing and floodlights, among others.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has released Rs 5.67 crore during 2024–25 and 2025–26 under the National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction (NAPDDR) Scheme to Punjab.
Agencies remain vigilant against narco-terror money funnelled into Punjab through heroin smuggling networks, with proceeds used for terror funding and suspected influence in local politics, including elections.
–IANS
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