Chandigarh, March 9 – The Punjab Police announced on Monday that they had frozen properties worth more than ₹600 crore, linked to drug traffickers, over the past two years, marking a major achievement in their ongoing crackdown on the drug economy in the state.
Notably, Punjab accounted for 50 per cent of all properties frozen in 2024 in connection with drug cases across the country.
This strategy reflects a significant shift in enforcement priorities, from simply arresting offenders and seizing narcotics to systematically targeting the illicit wealth generated through drug trafficking.
By targeting traffickers where it hurts the most – their illegal properties – the Punjab Police aim to dismantle the economic infrastructure that sustains the drug trade.
The pace of property freezing has significantly accelerated in recent years.
Assets worth nearly ₹330 crore were frozen in 2024, while properties valued at around ₹270 crore were frozen in 2025.
Significantly, more than ₹600 crore worth of illegal properties belonging to drug smugglers have been frozen in the past two years alone, accounting for more than half of the nearly ₹1,000 crore worth of assets frozen since 2017, highlighting the intensified efforts to dismantle the financial foundations of the drug trade.
The Punjab Police investigations now routinely track the proceeds of drug crime through properties, bank accounts, shell companies, and luxury assets.
Residential houses, commercial establishments, agricultural land, and high-value vehicles that have been acquired illegally have been identified and frozen under relevant provisions of law.
"This crackdown forms an important pillar of the Punjab government's "Yudh Nashean Virudh" (War Against Drugs) campaign, which aims to combat the narcotics menace through coordinated enforcement, prevention, and rehabilitation measures," an official statement said.
Under the campaign, the police have intensified intelligence-led operations and financial investigations to dismantle the networks that sustain the drug trade.
A senior Punjab Police official said that the crackdown on illegal wealth acquired by drug smugglers is a deliberate strategy aimed at dismantling the incentive structure that sustains the drug trade.
"We are following what is considered one of India's most aggressive and financially intelligent anti-drug enforcement models. We are not only catching smugglers, but also dismantling the financial empires built on drugs. Drug trafficking thrives on the promise of huge illegal profits. Our strategy is to destroy that incentive by systematically targeting and freezing assets created from drug money. When traffickers realise that their properties, land, and wealth can be confiscated, the economic foundation of the drug trade begins to collapse. Economic disruption and financial warfare against drug trafficking is therefore a central pillar of the Punjab Police's anti-drug strategy," the official added.