Chandigarh’s fight against narcotics has reached a new milestone with Punjab Police intensifying its crackdown under the ‘War Against Drugs’ campaign. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s directives have fueled a relentless pursuit, leading to the arrest of more than 50,000 drug traffickers since March 1, 2025.
In a significant development, Punjab Police DGP Gaurav Yadav inaugurated the state-of-the-art Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) building in Jalandhar on Thursday. Spanning 9,000 square feet and built at a cost of 1.60 crore rupees, the facility boasts modern amenities including dedicated offices for gazetted officers, cabins for investigators, a readers’ room, and a high-tech conference room.
DGP Yadav emphasized that the new hub is equipped with cutting-edge tools to target major drug kingpins and dismantle international narcotics networks operating in the state. Key features include mobile and computer forensic labs, advanced data analytics systems, forensic data extraction and decryption capabilities, technical surveillance gear, and cryptocurrency tracking devices.
The ANTF has further bolstered its capabilities by integrating with the Punjab Artificial Intelligence System (PAIS 2.0), which houses a database of over 70,000 criminal voices for advanced voice analysis.
Sharing campaign statistics, DGP Yadav revealed that since March 1, 2025, police have registered 35,133 FIRs and nabbed 50,238 drug peddlers. Seizures include 2,229 kg of heroin, 667 kg of opium, 28 tons of poppy husk, 68 kg of charas, 783 kg of ganja, 29 kg of ICE, 4 kg of cocaine, 48.64 lakh narcotic pills, and drug money worth 16.68 crore rupees.
Hailing the campaign as a resounding success, the DGP vowed to continue until drugs are eradicated from Punjab. He urged citizens to share tips anonymously via the Safe Punjab chatbot at 97791-00200.
The event saw the presence of Special DGP ANTF Kuldeep Singh, ADGP ANTF Neelabh Kishor, ADGP State Armed Police MF Faruqui, Jalandhar Police Commissioner Dhanpreet Kaur, and other senior officials.