In a sweeping anti-narcotics operation, Chandigarh UT Police arrested 80 drug peddlers and suppliers in the first half of 2025, intensifying their crackdown on the city’s drug network. Authorities registered 66 cases under the NDPS Act and froze assets worth Rs10 crore, including drug proceeds.
This year, for the first time, Chandigarh Police also invoked the PIT NDPS Act to detain habitual offenders. Two such individuals, Bala of Sector 38 and Deepak Mittal alias Vicky of Sector 45, were identified as repeat offenders and are being sent to Central Jail, Dibrugarh in Assam, under preventive detention.
Police revealed that Bala ran her drug operations from home and used children and others to distribute narcotics in small quantities. She and Mittal collectively face 36 criminal cases, including 10 under the NDPS Act.
In 2024, police had arrested 95 drug smugglers in 67 cases and recovered 33 kg of narcotics along with Rs15 lakh in drug money. Continuing the momentum in 2025, under the leadership of SP Crime Branch Jasbir Singh, authorities destroyed 58 kg of drugs on January 21. The destroyed substances included:
5 kg of poppy husk
4.76 kg of heroin
5.82 kg of hashish
33.22 kg of ganja
Other banned intoxicants
With intensified surveillance and enforcement, the UT police are sending a strong message against drug trafficking in the region.
