Punjab tops country with max drug smuggling cases; Himachal Pradesh is second

Jupinderjit Singh

Chandigarh, December 4

Punjab has the highest number of drug smuggling cases in the country, while the state is overall third in the number of cases registered under all categories of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, states the report of the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) for 2022 released on Monday.

As per the rate of NDPS cases per lakh population, Punjab tops the nation with 24.3 drug smuggling cases, while Himachal Pradesh is second with 14.8. With 26,619 overall FIRs, Kerala surprisingly has the highest number of cases under all categories of the NDPS Act in the country. It has never figured among the top-three states in this category in the recent past. Maharashtra is placed second with 13,830 cases and Punjab third with 12,442 FIRs, maintaining the same position for the second consecutive year now.

The NCRB report divides the cases into two categories — persons from whom drugs were recovered for personal consumption and those who carried drugs for smuggling.

Punjab tops the country with 7,433 cases of drug trafficking. The number of drug smugglers will be higher as the report does not specify the number of suspects booked in a single FIR. Uttar Pradesh has the second highest number of drug smuggling cases with 4,920 FIRs.

Kerala has registered only 1,600 cases against drugs smugglers, while the remaining, nearly 25,000, pertain to drug consumers.