Explainer: How Haryana is fighting the narcotics menace

Haryana, known as an agrarian and industrially advancing state, is now facing a silent invasion – narcotics smuggled from multiple corners of the country. A data of the Haryana State Narcotics Control Bureau (HSNCB) has highlighted how heroin, ganja, charas, opium, pharmaceutical drugs, and even high-profile synthetics infiltrate the state through deep-rooted inter-state networks.From where are drugs being supplied in state?Narcotics are pouring in from both neighbouring and distant districts across the country. Opium and poppy straw are smuggled in from Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur, Ujjan, Malhagarh and Neemuch areas, Rajasthan’s Ajmer, Chittorgarh and Jhalawar as well as Jharkhand and Bihar. Charas makes its way from Himachal’s Kullu, Shimla and Sirmaur districts, Uttarakhand’s Haridwar, Banbasa Nepal border Champawat and further from Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar. Ganja travels a longer route, it comes from Odisha’s Koraput, Berhampur, Rayagada and Kalahandi regions, along with Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh. Pharmaceutical drugs — including tablets, injections, syrups, and capsules — are sourced from Himachal’s Baddi, and Sirmaur, Uttarakhand’s Haridwar, Delhi, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh districts such as Saharanpur, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar and Lucknow. High-profile synthetic drugs like MDMA, LSD and cocaine are routed into Haryana via Delhi’s Karolbagh, Dwarka, West Bengal’s Kolkata and Uttar Pradesh’s Pratapgarh.Which districts are the worst affected?Sirsa, Fatehabad, Dabwali, Ambala, Hisar, Panipat, Yamunanagar, Jind, Kaithal, Panchkula and Kurukshetra have emerged as heroin hotspots, while ganja belt stretches across Gurugram, Faridabad, Palwal, Jhajjar, Rewari, Karnal, Jind and Bhiwani. Ambala, Panchkula, Kaithal, Panipat, Sonepat, Rohtak, Jind, Hisar, and Yamunanagar are hubs of charas. Sirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar, Dabwali, Kurukshetra, Karnal and Kaithal are hotspots of opium as well as of poppy straw. The abuse of pharmaceutical drugs –tablets, injections, syrups and capsules, spreads across Yamunanagar, Karnal, Panipat, Rohtak, Panchkula, Ambala, Nuh, and Kurukshetra. The Sirsa-Fatehabad-Hisar belt dominates poppy straw trade, with Kurukshetra, Karnal, and Kaithal close behind. Gurugram, Faridabad, Dabwali and Panchkula have also become centres for high-profile synthetic drug abuse, with MDMA, LSD, and cocaine.How many FIRs have been registered by the police?The Haryana Police have recorded remarkable achievements in the fight against drugs from January to August 2025. In the first eight months of 2025 alone, 2,462 NDPS cases were registered across the state, leading to 4,162 arrests and 307 commercial quantity seizures.What steps is the state taking to check inter-state drug trafficking?Haryana police are not only arresting peddlers to cut off the supply at the ground level, but also seizing and freezing the properties of offenders so that drug money cannot be reinvested into the illegal trade. The focus is also on dismantling inter-state networks by targeting both sources and destinations of narcotics, which helps disrupt entire supply chains.How is the state police targeting the financial backbone of drug traffickers?The Haryana Police have gone beyond arrests and seizures of narcotics by striking directly at their illegal wealth. Using provisions under Section 68F of the NDPS Act, the police have launched economic crackdowns, seizing and freezing assets acquired through drug money. In 2025 alone, assets worth more than Rs 1.75 crore have already been confiscated, while proceedings are underway to seize and freeze properties worth over Rs 32.18 crore. By cutting off the financial lifeline of traffickers, the police are not just disrupting their present operations but also dismantling their ability to rebuild criminal empires in the future.How many villages and wards in the state have been declared drug-free under ‘Drug-Free Haryana’?Between January and July 2025, Haryana declared 4,233 out of 7,354 villages and 910 out of 1,956 wards drug-free. Leading the effort, Kurukshetra reported 410 drug-free villages, followed by Nuh (310) and Kaithal (232). This achievement, backed by a joint verification system of the CID and the HSNCB, is not just a law enforcement milestone but a social transformation, showing that drug eradication has grown into a community-driven movement, which will help in achieving the goal of ‘Drug-Free Haryana’.What is Haryana’s conviction rate in commercial quantity drug cases?From January to July 2025, courts adjudicated 67 commercial quantity cases, with 42 convictions, resulting in an average conviction rate of 62.68 per cent. In 2024, the conviction rate was even higher at 71.53 per cent, with 93 convictions out of 130 cases. Significantly, in 2025, districts like Hisar, Gurugram, Nuh, Faridabad, and Sirsa achieved a 100 per cent conviction rate, reflecting the strength of police investigations and the prosecution’s effectiveness in ensuring that traffickers face strict punishment.

Explainer: How Haryana is fighting the narcotics menace

Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Explainer: How Haryana is fighting the narcotics menace

Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

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