Heroin supply 'dips', Punjab Police see pharma drugs as new threat
Punjab Police deploys nine anti-drone systems, including three “Baaj Akh” units that have been operational in Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Ferozepur, as well as three units of the Drone Sense D200 Pro
Punjab’s intensive crackdown on drugs smuggled across the international border with Pakistan has led to a sharp decline in the availability of street heroin in the state. At the same time, pharmaceutical drugs smuggled in from other states have emerged as the biggest new challenge for drug law enforcement, a Punjab Police spokesperson said in Chandigarh on Sunday.
The spokesperson said the multi-layered response by the Border Security Force (BSF) and Punjab Police against drone-based narcotics smuggling had begun showing results.
Punjab Police is deploying nine anti-drone systems, including three “Baaj Akh” units that have been operational in Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Ferozepur since August 2025, as well as three units of the Drone Sense D200 Pro, a long-endurance mobile drone-detection platform deployed at strategic locations in border districts since September 3 this year.
For ground response, 52 drone response teams comprising 147 personnel work with the BSF to reach drone-drop locations and intercept those collecting consignments.
They are backed by 64 second-line nakas staffed by 600 personnel and 2,367 CCTV cameras across 585 locations. Village defence committees in border areas have also been integrated with these teams, acting as what the spokesperson described as the “eyes and ears” of the police.
The “Yudh Nashiyan Virudh” campaign has led to nearly 80,000 arrests since March 1, 2025, and the recovery of 486 drones, the spokesperson said. Financial investigations have resulted in the freezing of property worth more than Rs 336 crore, while nearly Rs 2 crore has been disbursed this year under a reward policy that pays Rs 25,000 for every drone recovered.
The shift from heroin to pharma drugs
Even as heroin availability has declined, the pattern of drug consumption in Punjab has shifted, with pharmaceutical drug addiction emerging as the primary enforcement challenge, the spokesperson said.
Seizure data showed that the drugs are largely manufactured outside Punjab, in states including Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana, as well as Delhi.
Since 2025, 11.54 lakh pharmaceutical tablets and capsules linked to consignments from these states have been recovered. An estimated 80 per cent of the pharmaceutical drugs available in Punjab now originate from Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi—a reversal of the earlier trend, when a similar share came from across the Pakistan border.
The spokesperson said the emerging pattern underlined the need for inter-state coordination to target manufacturers, distributors and organised pharmaceutical drug networks.
Punjab Police would take up the matter with the concerned states to seek better regulation of manufacturing units and continuous monitoring of the sale, purchase and transport of pharmaceutical drugs to prevent their diversion into Punjab.
