Drone drug trafficking cases up 100-fold in 5 years (File photo)
NEW DELHI: The skies are the new frontiers in India’s war on drugs, as a 100-fold jump in drone trafficking incidents over the last five years has forced security agencies to confront a highly sophisticated, tech-empowered threat. The annual Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) data of 2025, unveiled by Union home minister Amit Shah, reveals a record 305 dronerelated cases yielding 468 kg of high-purity contraband, turning the skies above Punjab into the theatre of a rapidly evolving multi-front crisis. This represents a staggering 98% increase in contraband quantity over the previous year and a massive 100-fold increase in drone incidents since 2021, when only three cases were registered. The India-Pakistan border remains the hub of this aerial onslaught, with Punjab single-handedly accounting for 298 of the 305 drone-related incidents, primarily involving high-purity heroin and methamphetamine. Also, pharmaceutical drug diversion has experienced an overall 77% increase between 2021 and 2025. Yearly seizures peaked dramatically at 2,43,111 kg before settling down marginally at 2,37,390 kg. Punjab has become fertile ground for a dangerous “second wave” of substance abuse, leading all states with a massive seizure of 8,95,508 codeine-based cough syrup bottles alongside rampant illegal distribution of buprenorphine, tramadol andalprazolam. While skies are increasingly monitored, traditional land-based smuggling via courier and postal networks continues to present a stubborn challenge; despite a stabilisation in case numbers to 174 incidents, the volume of seized contraband through postal channels stood at 972 kg. The NCB report cites the growth of clandestine synthetic drug laboratories as well, even as it dismantled 30 secret manufacturing labs — surpassing the combined total of the previous three years — and arrested 102 individuals. Data reveals that these facilities, heavily concentrated across Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh, were primarily churning out mass quantities of mephedrone, ephedrine, and illicit psychotropic tablets. To counter these sprawling networks, authorities have significantly diversified their strategy by cracking down on the international networks and financial backbones powering these cartels. As many as 747 foreign nationals were arrested for drug trafficking operations, with the highest concentration of operatives hailing from Nepal (203), Nigeria (146), and Myanmar (97). In tandem with these arrests, the NCB has aggressively pivoted from simple physical interdictions to a “followthe-money” enforcement strategy. Financial investigations escalated sharply to 1,356 cases, successfully freezing or seizing an unprecedented Rs 836 crore in cartel assets—a massive leap from the Rs 164.93 crore seized five years prior. This financial squeeze is reinforced by an aggressive deployment of the PITNDPS Act, under which preventive detention orders against high-level financiers and kingpins jumped more than sevenfold to 810 detention orders, cementing a systemic shift toward permanently dismantling the economic ecosystem of organised crime.
