Anti Drugs drive and Success by AAP Govt in Punjab

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Last updated: 17 October 2026

Highest Conviction rate of 89% in NDPS cases under AAP (Sept 2026)[1]

-- Meagre 58% under Congress, 59% in 2018[2]
-- Only 40% during Akali-BJP government[2:1]

Details: Reforms for Speedy Court Cases

Huge uptick in Police Success

-- 220+% jump in Heroin recoveries in 2023 as compared 2021 (details further down the page)[3]

Strong Policing: Mar 2022 - Jan 2025[4]

-- Arrested: 43,000 (5856+ big fish)
-- Drugs seized: Heroin: 3,000 kg, Opium: 2,600 Kg, Tablets/injections/vials: 4.3 crore, Drug money: Rs 30.83+ crore
-- FIRs: 31,500 (3581+ commercial quantities)

Strict action against police officers, politicians involved
-- SAD senior politician Majithia booked[5] & arrested by Vigilance Bureau on 25 June 2025 in disproportionate assets case linked to ₹540 crore drug money[6]
-- Congress leader Sukhpal Khaira arrested[7]
-- AIG Police Raj Jit Singh dismissed & named in FIR[8]
-- DSP Lakhvir Singh arrested for allegedly accepting Rs 10 lakh[9]
-- SI booked for supporting drug mafia[10]

1. Strong Policing: Zero tolerance approach

Year Arrested FIRs
2024[11] 8,935 (210 Big fish) 12,255 (1,213 Commercial quantity)
2023[12] 14,951 (2424 Big fish) 10786 (1385 Commercial quantity)

1a. Yudh Nashian Virudh: Final push to eradication drugs[13]

1 March 2025 - 30 September 2026 (19 months)[14]
-- 63,616 FIRs & 81,107 people arrested
-- Seized: Heroin 4,161 kg, Opium 10 quintals, Poppy husk 476 quintals, Ganja 1,747 kg, Charas 130 kg, ICE 77 kg, 65.75 lakh tablets/capsules, drug money ₹22.2 crore[14:1]
-- 708 big fish arrested & ₹366 crore properties of drug smugglers frozen in 914 cases (till 10 Sept 2026)[1:1]
-- De-addiction/rehab admissions up 170%: ~12,200 (2024) to ~34,000 (2025)[15]

First 90 days:

8,344 FIRs and arrest of 14,734 individuals under the NDPS Act in past 90 days since 1 March 2025
-- 1,696 drug suppliers/distributors included

  • Recovered 586 kg of heroin, 247 kg of opium, 14 tonnes of poppy husk, 9 kg of charas, 253 kg of ganja, 2.5 kg of ICE, 1.6 kg of cocaine, and 25.7 lakh intoxicant pills seized
  • ₹10.76 crores drug money from their possession.s 6 crore has been recovered

1b. IMPACT: Herion Recovery over the years

Year Herion Seized[3:1]
2024 1099 Kg[11:1]
2023 1346 kg
2022 594kg
2021 571kg
2020 760kg
2019 460kg
2018 424kg
2017 179kg

1c. Comparison with previous governments (NDPS Act recoveries)

Metrics 2007-2011 SAD+BJP 2012-2016 SAD+BJP 2017-2021 Congress 2022-2026 AAP
Cases 26,560 55,422 52,255 95,548
Accused arrested 30,442 65,005 68,064 1,27,906
Heroin (kg) 847.09 1,970.46 2,412.38 7,148.00
Opium (kg) 3,369.96 3,397.10 2,504.75 3,838.39
Conviction rate - - 63.63% 85.09%

Source: Punjab Govt briefing on Yudh Nashean Virudh (Oct 2026); no public link available.

2. Special New Anti-DRUGS Initiatives

3. Arresting POs/Absconders[17]

2378 Proclaimed offenders/absconders in Drugs cases arrested since 16 March 2022 to Sept 2024

Year POs Arrested
2024[11:2] 843
2023[12:1] 673
  • Special teams to arrest Drug case POs absconding
  • Categorise the POs under three categories

4. Intelligence Gathering: Mission Nishchay[18]

Strong Intelligence Gathering[19]: Police has prepared a list of
-- 9,000 drug peddlers
-- 750 drug hotspots

Regular Raids & tracking started to keep a check

  • Launched Special operation in border villages to gather intelligence about demand and supply of drugs
  • The initiative aims to gather actionable intelligence and engage local communities
  • It targets areas with close proximity to the border and a history of drug trafficking incidences
  • Police officers will fan out in villages in Fazilka district and interact with residents

5. Strengthing of Police & Jails

117 new vehicles for DSPs approved at the Yudh Nashean Virudh review, Phillaur (16 Oct 2026)[20]

6. Long term solution

Anganwadi workers as Nasha Mukti Mitras: grassroots network to sensitise families on drug abuse and connect people to de-addiction services; 20 felicitated at Malout, Sri Muktsar Sahib (29 Sep 2026)[21]

Identifying unemployment & unengaged youth as one of the reasons why youth get attracted to drugs

Challenges

  • The drug menace in Punjab is believed to have started in early 1980s
  • Neither 15 years each of NDA rule, nor 15 years of Congress rule could tackle this problem
  • Deeply rooted drug problem : about 2/3rd families have at least one addict[22]
  • 47% of jail inmates drug addicts : many criminals part of drug racket[23]
  • Police officers[10:1][8:1][9:1], army-personnel[24], politicians[5:1] involved in drug racket
  • Pakistan Smugglers use sophisticated techniques like delivery by drones to send drugs across border[25]

References:

  1. https://updatepunjab.com/punjab/punjab-police-registers-60582-firs-arrests-79784-drug-smugglers-including-708-big-fish-since-launch-of-yudh-nashian-virudh-dgp-gaurav-yadav/ (Punjab Govt Press Release) ↩︎ ↩︎

  2. https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2025/Mar/11/11-days-since-start-of-anti-drug-campaign-punjab-police-register-1072-firs-under-ndps-act ↩︎ ↩︎

  3. https://www.babushahi.com/full-news.php?id=186225 ↩︎ ↩︎

  4. https://yespunjab.com/cm-mann-seeks-amit-shahs-intervention-for-setting-up-special-ndps-courts-to-check-drug-menace/ ↩︎

  5. https://www.deccanherald.com/national/north-and-central/punjab-sit-probing-drug-case-involving-sad-leader-bikram-majithia-reconstituted-1220844.html ↩︎ ↩︎

  6. https://www.newsonair.gov.in/punjab-vigilance-bureau-arrests-sad-leader-bikram-singh-majithia-in-da-case ↩︎

  7. https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/congress-leader-sukhpal-khaira-remanded-in-two-day-police-custody-552114 ↩︎

  8. https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/chandigarh-news/punjab-police-drug-mafia-nexus-dismissed-senior-official-faces-probe-for-amassing-wealth-through-narcotics-sale-assets-seized-drugmafia-punjabpolice-narcotics-vigilancebureau-101681729035045.html ↩︎ ↩︎

  9. https://theprint.in/india/punjab-police-dsp-held-for-accepting-rs-10-lakh-bribe-from-drugs-supplier/1028036/ ↩︎ ↩︎

  10. https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/cop-booked-for-setting-drug-peddler-free-accepting-rs-70000-bribe-in-ludhiana-8526444/ ↩︎ ↩︎

  11. https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/punjab-police-high-profile-crimes-solved-terrorists-arrested-2024-9754223/ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  12. https://www.babushahi.com/full-news.php?id=176620 ↩︎ ↩︎

  13. https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/chandigarh-news/punjab-dgp-hails-success-of-anti-drug-campaign-says-fight-isn-t-over-101748721694035.html ↩︎

  14. https://yespunjab.com/punjab-police-arrests-over-81000-drug-smugglers-in-19-months-of-yudh-nashian-virudh/ (Punjab Govt Press Release, 1 Oct 2026) ↩︎ ↩︎

  15. https://yespunjab.com/punjabs-big-5-anti-drug-strategy-from-police-action-and-village-vigilance-to-prevention-and-rehabilitation/ (Punjab Govt Press Release) ↩︎

  16. https://www.babushahi.com/full-news.php?id=228020 (Punjab Govt Press Release, 10 Oct 2026) ↩︎

  17. https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/chandigarh-news/nearly-40-000-drug-smugglers-held-in-past-2-5-years-punjab-police-101726511792404.html ↩︎

  18. https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/police-launch-mission-nishchay-fazilka-to-gather-intelligence-about-drugs-9391832/ ↩︎

  19. https://www.theweek.in/wire-updates/national/2024/06/18/des23-pb-drugs-police-2ndld-mann.html ↩︎

  20. https://www.babushahi.com/view-news.php?id=228311 (Punjab Govt Press Release, 16 Oct 2026) ↩︎

  21. https://www.babushahi.com/full-news.php?id=227467 (Punjab Govt Press Release, 29 Sept 2026) ↩︎

  22. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-38824478 ↩︎

  23. https://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/47-of-inmates-in-25-jails-of-punjab-are-addicted-to-drugs-reveals-screening-576647.html ↩︎

  24. https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/army-personnel-aide-held-in-punjab-with-31-kg-heroin-smuggled-in-from-pakistan-8367406/ ↩︎

  25. https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/drugs-pushed-by-pak-using-drone-5-kg-heroin-seized-punjab-cops-3734169 ↩︎

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