The North News
Chandigarh, March 9
The Punjab Police have frozen illegally acquired properties worth more than Rs 600 crore belonging to drug smugglers over the last two years as part of intensified efforts to dismantle the financial networks of narcotics trafficking in the state.
Officials said on Monday Punjab accounted for nearly 50 per cent of all properties frozen in drug-related cases across the country in 2024.
The move reflects a shift in enforcement strategy from only arresting drug traffickers and seizing narcotics to targeting the illegal wealth generated through the drug trade.
According to police data, properties worth about Rs 330 crore were frozen in 2024 and assets valued at around Rs 270 crore in 2025.
Together, these account for more than half of the nearly Rs 1,000 crore worth of assets frozen in drug cases in Punjab since 2017.
The Punjab Police said investigations are now focusing on tracing the proceeds of drug trafficking through properties, bank accounts, shell companies, benami holdings and luxury assets.
Residential houses, commercial buildings, agricultural land and high-value vehicles acquired through illegal earnings have been identified and frozen under relevant legal provisions.
The action is part of the Punjab government’s “Yudh Nashean Virudh” (War Against Drugs) campaign aimed at tackling the drug menace through enforcement, prevention and rehabilitation.
A senior police official said the crackdown on the illegal wealth of drug traffickers was aimed at weakening the economic foundations of the drug trade.
“We are not only arresting drug smugglers but also dismantling the financial empires built on drug money. By freezing properties and assets created through illegal earnings, we intend to destroy the incentive that fuels the narcotics trade,” the official said.
He added that earlier, even after the arrest of traffickers, their properties often remained untouched, allowing networks to continue operations through associates or family members.
Police said the sustained focus on financial investigations and asset freezing is aimed at weakening the economic networks behind drug trafficking and ensuring that illegal profits from the trade do not survive.
