{"id":131173,"date":"2026-10-30T12:12:27","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T06:42:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=131173"},"modified":"2026-10-30T12:12:27","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T06:42:27","slug":"punjab-drug-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/punjab-drug-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Punjab Drug Crisis: Causes, Drug Trafficking and Solutions"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Punjab Drug Crisis Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Punjab\u2019s drug crisis has triggered fresh unrest. Recently, police took custody of the body of 35-year-old Daljit Singh, who died of a suspected overdose.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His family was taking the body to a protest site in Mansa. At that site, the family of activist Parvinder Singh Jhota was already protesting. Jhota was shot dead on October 13 by a chemist he had confronted over the sale of prohibited drugs.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With Assembly elections due next year, drugs have become a central political issue in the state.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Scale of the Problem<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Punjab has struggled with drugs for nearly 15 years. The problem shows no sign of easing.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As per NCRB 2024 data (released September 2026):<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Punjab leads India with 6,060 drug trafficking cases.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It recorded 106 overdose deaths, second only to Tamil Nadu (313).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Historical Roots: Social Acceptance of Intoxicants<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Intoxicants have a long history in Punjab.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before Independence, <\/span><b>opium (afeem) and poppy husk<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> were socially accepted. People consumed them in small quantities, often on a doctor\u2019s advice.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>Royal Commission on Opium<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (1894) found that opium use in India was generally very low, but had been common for centuries among certain groups in North India.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Home-brewed liquor (desi daru) was the most popular and accepted form of intoxication.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Opium use continued after Independence despite a state ban. People simply crossed into Rajasthan, which had legal opium shops (thekas).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A 1979 study found opium use was widespread in rural Punjab, even though it had to be smuggled in.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Geographic Vulnerability<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Proximity to the Golden Crescent<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Punjab shares a 553-km border with Pakistan. This makes it a natural transit route for drugs.<\/span><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>Golden Crescent (Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is one of three major global heroin-processing centres.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The other two are the <\/span><b>Golden Triangle<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (Myanmar, Thailand, Laos) and South America.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Police officials describe the problem as narco-terrorism. They say Pakistan began pushing drugs into Punjab to weaken the state after militancy declined.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Multiple Supply Routes<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Heroin (chitta): Smuggled across the porous Pakistan border.<\/span><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Opium and poppy husk: From Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, where cultivation is legal for medical, scientific and export purposes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Charas and hashish: From Himachal Pradesh.<\/span><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">High-quality heroin: Suspected to come from Delhi via Gujarat, Rajasthan (Ganganagar, Hanumangarh) or Jammu and Kathua.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b style=\"font-size: inherit;\">Rise of Pharmaceutical Drugs<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tighter border enforcement pushed users towards <\/span><b>pharmaceutical drugs<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. In 2021, the Centre <\/span><b>extended the BSF\u2019s jurisdiction<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from 15 km to 50 km inland.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2024, India seized 5.13 crore pharma drug units. Punjab alone accounted for 2.94 crore, more than half.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">About 25% of NDPS FIRs filed by Punjab Police in 2022 involved pharma drugs.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Around 80% of these drugs come from manufacturing hubs in Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Jhota killing itself was linked to the illegal sale of pharma drugs.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Drones: A New Smuggling Tool<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Drone-based smuggling has grown sharply.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BSF data shows drone droppings rose from 3 in 2021 to over 200 in 2025.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most are small <\/span><b>Chinese quadcopters<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> carrying heroin and weapons. They now land even in daylight. The <\/span><b>Amritsar\u2013Tarn Taran\u2013Ferozepur\u2013Gurdaspur belt<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is the core of this corridor.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The BSF has set up an anti-drone intelligence wing. Punjab Police has bought anti-drone guns. Yet smugglers continue to escape.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Economics of the Drug Trade<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>High Profits, Few Jobs<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The trade survives crackdowns because it pays well. A gram of chitta sells for \u20b91,000\u20135,000. One trip as a drug carrier can earn about \u20b91 lakh. This matters in a state where jobs do not match the high aspirations of youth.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Changing Social Values<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Experts also point to changing social values, where wealth earned through illegal means is increasingly accepted.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Nexus of Traffickers, Police and Politicians<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: An alleged nexus protects the trade. The 2013 arrest of DSP Jagdish Singh Bhola in a large drug racket exposed this link. He was convicted in 2019.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Growing Role of Women<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Arrests of women under the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/ndps\/\" target=\"_blank\">NDPS Act<\/a><\/strong> rose 85% in 2022 compared with 2015.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Traffickers use women because they are less likely to be frisked and can carry drugs on buses.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Entire families are often drawn in. Many women addicts become peddlers to fund their own addiction.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Policy Responses Over the Years<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since the then government declared a \u201cwar on drugs\u201d in 2014, Punjab has followed the EDP approach \u2014 <\/span><b>Enforcement, De-addiction and Prevention<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Introduced dope tests for arms licences and new government recruitment.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Focused on catching big traffickers while running large-scale awareness campaigns.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yudh Nasheyan Virudh (March 2025): Targeted traffickers\u2019 finances and demolished houses built with drug money.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Phase 2 (2026): Shifted to community action, deploying over 1.5 lakh village volunteers (\u201cPind De Pehredar\u201d).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite these efforts, drugs remain easily available. Experts argue the EDP model has the wrong priorities. They believe <\/span><b>prevention and rehabilitation should come before enforcement<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, not after it.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Conclusion<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Punjab\u2019s drug crisis is rooted in history, geography and economic distress. Enforcement alone has failed to curb it.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A lasting solution needs stronger regulation of pharma drugs, better border technology, breaking the trafficker-police-politician nexus, youth employment, and greater focus on prevention and rehabilitation.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/why-punjab-cant-shake-off-drug-crisis-role-of-history-geography-economics-10940937\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Punjab drug crisis is driven by historical patterns, border smuggling, pharmaceutical drugs and economic distress. Explore its causes, policy responses and solutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":131190,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[60,11222,22,59],"class_list":["post-131173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","tag-mains-articles","tag-punjab-drug-crisis","tag-upsc-current-affairs","tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131173"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":131226,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131173\/revisions\/131226"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}