Trend declining, but Punjab witnesses 2nd highest number of NDPS Act cases in 2024

While Punjab has witnessed a declining trend over the past three years in the registration of cases under the Narcotics, Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, it had the second highest number of such cases among all states last year.

In 2024, 9,025 cases under the NDPS Act were registered in Punjab, down from 11,564 in 2023 and 12,423 in 2022, according to data shared by the Ministry of Home Affairs in Parliament on Wednesday.

In 2022 and 2023, Punjab had the third highest number of such cases in the country, with Maharashtra having a higher figure during these two years. The revelation comes even as the Punjab Government launched a major crackdown on drug trafficking across the state this month, with the police registering 1,072 cases and arresting 1,485 persons in the past 11 days.

Kerala accounts for the highest number of NDPS cases in the country, which were a whopping 26,918 in 2022, 30,715 in 2023, and 27,701 in 2024. Across the country, a total of 1,02,769 cases were registered in 2022, 1,09,546 in 2023, and 89,913 in 2024.

As far as other states in the region are concerned, Haryana had 3,820 cases in 2022, 3,718 in 2023, and 3,062 in 2024, while Himachal Pradesh lodged 1,518, 2,045, and 1,634 cases in these years respectively. Neighbouring Rajasthan has shown an increasing trend with 3,738, 5,098, and 5,462 cases, respectively.

Sharing an international border with a hostile country, Punjab is highly vulnerable to cross-border smuggling of narcotics as well as other contraband including weapons, ammunition, and fake currency, which are trafficked though various means, including the increasing use of drones.

So far this year, the Border Security Force (BSF), which is responsible for the peacetime management of the International Border, has seized about 35 kg of narcotics in the vicinity of the border and neutralised over 45 drones originating from Pakistan.

In reply to questions by Members of Parliament, Shambhu Sharan Patel, Baburam Nishad, and Randeep Singh Surjewala, the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai, stated that border guarding forces, including the BSF, Assam Rifles, and Sashastra Seema Bal, have been empowered under the NDPS Act to carry out search, seizure, and arrest for illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs at the international border. Further, Railway Protection Force has also been empowered under the Act to check drug trafficking along the railway routes.

Listing out measures to curb drug smuggling, the minister said that a 4-tier Narco-Coordination Centre (NCORD) mechanism for ensuring better coordination between central and state law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders has been created.

A dedicated Anti-Narcotics Task Force headed by an additional director general or inspector general level has been established in each state and union territory to function as the NCORD secretariat and follow-up on compliance of decisions taken in NCORD meetings at different levels.

A task force on darknet and crypto-currency has also been set up under the Multi Agency Centre (MAC) mechanism with a focus on monitoring all platforms facilitating narco-trafficking, sharing of inputs on drug trafficking, interception of drug networks, continuous capturing of trends, modus operandi and nodes with regular database updates and review of related rules and laws.