"Drugs worth Rs 2,919 crore seized in Assam in last 5 years": CM Sarma shares progress of anti-drugs campaign

Guwahati (Assam) [India], January 1 (ANI): Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday informed that security forces have seized drugs worth Rs 2,919 crore in Assam over the last five years, more than seven times the seizures from 2011-2015 (about Rs 400 crore).
The 'War against banned drugs and psychotropic substances' has been one of the most visible and impactful campaigns of the Assam police during this period.
Informing further on the data, CM Sarma said that Rs 2,170 crore worth of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances have been destroyed since May 2021.
"More than 23,000 arrests have been made in drug-related cases in the last five years, since 2021, which is nearly four times the total number of arrests from 2011-2021 (about 6000 arrests). Drugs worth more than Rs 2919 crore have been recovered in the last five years, which is more than 7 times what was done from 2011-2015 (about Rs 400 crore), and almost four times the recoveries made between 2016-2020 (about Rs 720 crore)," the Assam Chief Minister underscored.
According to state government data, drugs worth Rs 419.47 crore were seized in 2025, Rs 658.76 crore in 2024, and Rs 722.55 crore in 2023. On the other hand, drugs worth Rs 735.54 crore were seized in 2022 and Rs 383.64 crore in 2021.
Meanwhile, in 2025, security forces seized 87 kg of heroin, 13812 kg of ganja, 27.27 lakh psychotropic substance tablets, 1.26 lakh cough syrup bottles, 209 kg of opium, and 48 kg of morphine.
Moreover, security forces destroyed over 633 bighas of opium cultivation in 2022 alone, targeting the economic backbone of narcotics networks. The total market value of seized Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) contraband rose from Rs 179.79 crore in 2020 to Rs 735.54 crore in 2022 and remained above Rs 650 crore in 2024.
In 2025, 3013 NDPS cases were registered, and security forces arrested 4453 persons. On the other hand, the crime rate per lakh population has declined from 379 in 2021 to 123.9 in 2025 as of October, alongside a sharp reduction in registered cases.
The Assam Chief Minister also said that a total of 1.45 lakh bighas of land have been recovered in the drive against encroachment, out of which 1.1 lakh bighas are Wildlife Sanctuary/ National Park/ Reserved Forest land, 26713 bighas are Sadharan Sarkari/ Khas kand encroachment, 4449 bighas are others, and 3643 bighas are VGR/PGR land. (ANI)