Punjab Police escalated its war on drugs on Sunday, raiding 510 locations across all 28 districts in a sweeping operation that netted 43 drug smugglers. The crackdown, part of the “Yudh Nashian Virudh” campaign launched by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, has now seen 333 arrests over two days, signaling a relentless push to dismantle the state’s narcotics networks. The daylong operation, directed by Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav, ran from 9 AM to 4 PM and involved over 2,000 personnel in more than 300 teams.

The haul was substantial: 776 grams of heroin, 14 kilograms of opium, 38 kilograms of poppy husk, 2,615 intoxicant tablets, and Rs 4.60 lakh in drug money were seized from the arrested smugglers. Special DGP Arpit Shukla, overseeing the drive, revealed that 619 suspicious individuals were screened, with 27 FIRs registered to tighten the noose around the drug trade. This follows Saturday’s bust of 290 smugglers, bringing the two-day recovery to over 8 kilograms of heroin and Rs 12.62 lakh in illicit cash.

Mann’s ambitious goal to make Punjab drug-free within three months, set on February 28, has galvanized this effort. A five-member cabinet sub-committee now monitors progress, reflecting the government’s three-pronged strategy of enforcement, deaddiction, and prevention. Beyond arrests, police organized 510 awareness events statewide on Sunday—camps, seminars, and public meetings—to rally community support against the drug menace.

The operation builds on Punjab Police’s 2024 record, with over 10,500 smugglers arrested and Rs 208 crore in drug-linked assets seized. As heroin inflows from Pakistan and pharma opioids flood local markets, this latest blitz underscores a fierce resolve to reclaim Punjab’s future.