Punjab Drug Latest: State is No. 1 in Drug Trafficking Cases in India -- NCRB

NCRB Crime in India 2024 data reveals Punjab leads all Indian states in drug trafficking cases with 6,060 cases — more than UP, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu combined per capita.

Arvind Chhabra

Chandigarh, May 7

The latest on Punjab drug scene is a deeply uncomfortable truth for Punjab: the state has recorded the highest number of drug trafficking cases of any state in India — and by a wide margin. This is as per the National Crime Records Bureau’s Crime in India 2024 report, released by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The data shows Punjab with 6,060 possession-for-trafficking cases under the NDPS Act in 2024. Uttar Pradesh, a state with nearly eight times Punjab’s population, comes in second with 3,219 cases.

The figures also place Punjab at 2nd in India on overall NDPS crime rate per lakh population — 29.0 per lakh, behind only Kerala (75.5). But on the specific metric of drug supply and trafficking — not personal use — Punjab holds the top position in the country, both in absolute numbers and in rate per lakh.

How Punjab Compares: NDPS Crime Rate per Lakh Population (States)

Only Kerala has a higher overall NDPS crime rate. Among large states, Punjab stands far ahead.

Source: NCRB Crime in India 2024 

The Breakdown: 67% of Punjab Drug Cases Are for Trafficking

What makes Punjab drug figures especially alarming is not just the volume of drug cases, but what kind of cases they are. Of Punjab’s total 8,973 NDPS cases in 2024:

Only 2,913 cases (32.5%) involve personal use or consumption — meaning someone caught with drugs for their own habit. The remaining 6,060 cases (67.5%) are possession for the purpose of trafficking — selling, supplying, or distributing narcotics. This is the supply side of Punjab’s drug economy laid bare in official government data.

The distinction matters enormously. Personal use cases point to the tragic scale of addiction. But trafficking cases point to organised networks — dealers, suppliers, and smugglers keeping the cycle alive. Punjab’s lead in this metric suggests the state is not just a consumer of narcotics but a key node in the drug supply chain.

Drug Trafficking State Rankings: Punjab Leads Every State in India

Punjab drug trafficking rate of 19.6 per lakh is significantly higher than second-placed Himachal Pradesh (17.2) — itself a state with well-documented heroin transit routes. Crucially, states like Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, which have more absolute trafficking cases due to their massive populations, fall far below Punjab on the rate-adjusted ranking.

The Geography of Punjab’s Drug Crisis

Punjab shares a 553-km border with Pakistan — one of the most active drug smuggling corridors in South Asia. Heroin (locally known as ‘chitta’), pharmaceutical opioids, and synthetic drugs move through this border regularly. The state also borders Himachal Pradesh, which ranks second in drug trafficking rate nationally, indicating a broader regional supply chain.

Punjab drug epidemic has been documented for over a decade, but these NCRB 2024 figures provide fresh, year-specific confirmation from central government data that the crisis has not abated. With 8,973 NDPS cases in 2024 (up for consideration against 2023’s 7,771 cases per prior year NCRB data), the trajectory has continued.

The state’s overall SLL (Special & Local Laws) crime rate is 68.7 per lakh which suggests that Punjab drug dominate Punjab’s SLL crime landscape in a way few other states experience.

The Murder Surge: Punjab Bucks the National Trend

Beyond drugs, NCRB 2024 data reveals another troubling Punjab-specific trend. While murder cases across India declined by 2.4% in 2024 (from 27,721 to 27,049), Punjab went the other way: murders rose from 681 in 2023 to 762 in 2024 — a 11.9% jump. Crime analysts and police experts have long pointed to drug-related gang violence as a key driver of homicides in the state.

Key Findings:

• Punjab ranks #1 in India in drug trafficking cases under the NDPS Act: 6,060 cases in 2024
• Punjab’s overall NDPS crime rate of 29.0 per lakh is 2nd highest among all states, after Kerala
• 67.5% of Punjab’s drug cases are for trafficking — not personal use — indicating organised supply networks
• Total NDPS cases in Punjab: 8,973 in 2024 — in a state of only 3.1 crore people
• Punjab’s murder count rose 11.9% in 2024 (681 to 762), even as national murders fell 2.4%
• Punjab’s drug trafficking rate of 19.6 per lakh is higher than any other state in India

What the Data Demands

The NCRB 2024 data strips away any ambiguity: Punjab is not merely a state with a drug problem. It is, by the Indian government’s own counting, the state where drug trafficking is most concentrated relative to its population. For every lakh people in Punjab, nearly 20 are involved in drug trafficking cases — a number that dwarfs comparably positioned states.

The central and state governments have repeatedly launched anti-drug campaigns, and Punjab Police has conducted high-profile raids. But the NCRB data, compiled from police station records across the state, reflects what actually gets registered and prosecuted shows a crisis that remains deeply embedded.

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