Punjab's Drugs Challenge Shifts, Other States Blamed For Pharma Smuggling

Chandigarh: The availability of heroin on Punjab streets has been reduced because of the stemming of cross-border smuggling, according to the state government. However, a new kind of menace has started to pose a fresh challenge to Punjab's law enforcement -- pharmaceutical drugs being smuggled in from other states.

Punjab Police has claimed its multi-layered anti-drug operation along the Pakistan border includes 09 anti-drone systems, with three Baaj Akh systems operational in Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Ferozepur. Three new Drone Sense D200 Pro units have also been deployed at strategic locations in border districts since September 3, with the police claiming they are helping detect and pinpoint drone activity and suspected dropping locations.

The anti-drone network is backed by 52 Drone Response Teams involving 147 personnel, working with the BSF, along with 64 second-line defence nakas, 600 police personnel and more than 2,300 CCTV cameras across 585 locations. Village Defence Committees have also been integrated into the response mechanism.

The crackdown, according to the government, has resulted in 486 drones being recovered, nearly 80,000 arrests since March 2025 and properties worth over Rs 336 crore being frozen to disrupt the financial networks of drug syndicates.

But with heroin availability falling, Punjab Police claims the pattern of drug consumption and supply is changing. Pharmaceutical narcotics have now emerged as the state's biggest drug enforcement challenge.

The government claims around 80% of pharmaceutical drugs reaching Punjab are being smuggled from Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi, with some consignments also linked to Himachal Pradesh. Since 2025, police say 11.54 lakh pharmaceutical tablets and capsules have been recovered from consignments linked to other states.

The Punjab government is now taking up the issue with the concerned states, seeking tighter regulation of pharmaceutical manufacturing units and stricter monitoring of sales, purchases and transportation to prevent diversion of medicines into Punjab.

In effect, Punjab's drug war is entering a new phase: the government says the Pakistan-border supply of heroin is being choked, but pharmaceutical drugs from neighbouring and other states are now emerging as the next major front.