The New Indian Express ·
Pharma drugs from other states emerge as new challenge for Punjab police
CHANDIGARH: The pattern of drug smuggling in Punjab is changing as the availability of 'street heroin' has declined sharply, while pharmaceutical drugs are increasingly being smuggled into the state from other states. This has emerged as a new challenge for Punjab Police, with a substantial quantity of “pharmaceutical narcotics” entering Punjab.
According to Punjab police data analysed from pharmaceutical seizures, most of these drugs are manufactured outside Punjab, in Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi, said a Punjab police spokesperson.
Since 2025, 11.54 lakh pharmaceutical tablets or capsules have been recovered from consignments linked to Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh. A state police official said around 80 per cent of pharmaceutical drugs available in Punjab are estimated to come from these states. This reverses the earlier trend, when majority of drugs smuggled into the state were believed to come across the international border with Pakistan.
