Daijiworld Media Network – Lucknow
Lucknow, Sep 25: Uttar Pradesh has confiscated properties worth approximately Rs 78.5 crore in 69 cases between January 1 and September 23, 2026, as part of an intensified crackdown on narcotics traffickers, according to an official statement. The value of the confiscated properties is more than four times the amount seized during the previous year.
The action was carried out jointly by the Uttar Pradesh Police and the Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF). The state government has also intensified efforts to detain alleged drug traffickers under the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (PIT-NDPS) Act.
According to the statement, properties worth around Rs 19 crore were confiscated in 29 cases in 2025. Detention proceedings under the PIT-NDPS Act were initiated against seven alleged narcotics traffickers in 2024, including five cases by the ANTF. The number increased to 19 in 2025 and further to 71 in 2026.
Director General of Police Rajeev Krishna said the objective was not limited to arresting traffickers but also to dismantling their networks and targeting assets allegedly acquired through the narcotics trade. He said the state was intensifying efforts to achieve its goal of making Uttar Pradesh drug-free by 2029.
Krishna said targeting the financial networks of traffickers was aimed at striking at the root of the narcotics trade.
The statement said action against properties allegedly linked to the narcotics trade had increased over the years. In 2024, the ANTF confiscated properties worth around Rs 1 crore in four cases. The figure rose to approximately Rs 17 crore in 28 cases in 2025 and around Rs 13 crore in 40 cases in 2026.
Among those against whom detention action has been initiated under the PIT-NDPS Act are alleged narcotics traffickers Gurumel Singh, Bhola Prasad, Sanjeev Rana, Vibhor Rana, Shermani Patel and Parmanand alias Pappu.
Krishna said that under Sections 68-E and 68-F of the NDPS Act, properties allegedly acquired through narcotics trafficking are provisionally frozen and permanently confiscated after investigation and a due hearing.
He said the process was intended to weaken traffickers financially while disrupting their narcotics networks.