NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday praised the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) for securing convictions for 73 drug offenders in the first three months of 2026, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs said in an official statement.
Earlier, on his X handle, Shah said, “To protect our youth from the scourge of drugs, the Modi govt is ruthlessly demolishing drug cartels and is also ensuring their conviction.
Under this mission, the NCB has made a breakthrough in getting 73 drug offenders convicted in the first three months of 2026 with the harshest punishments. We are determined to shut every breathing space of drug rackets with all our might,” he noted.
The home ministry said that as many as 9.50 lakh searchable records of arrested and convicted persons under the NDPS Act remain available with the centralised digital database, the National Integrated Database on Arrested Narco-Offenders (NIDAAN), which strengthened the anti-drug enforcement agencies.
“In the first quarter of 2026, from January to March, the NCB secured convictions of 73 drug offenders in 35 cases. Out of these, four were awarded the maximum sentence of 20 years, while 54 others were awarded sentences of 10 years or more. A total fine of Rs 1.22 crore was also imposed on the convicts,” they said.
The NCB’s approach has led to a steady increase in the conviction rate from 60.5 per cent in 2024 to 65.5 per cent in 2025 and now to 68.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, it noted.
“The important convictions include international heroin smuggling cases involving seizures of 2.757 kg of heroin at Ahmedabad Airport in 2021 and 4.235 kg of heroin at the Fazilka Indo-Pak border in 2022. In these cases, two foreign traffickers have been awarded 20 years of rigorous imprisonment,” the ministry said.
Meanwhile, the statement said, the NCB has also appealed to other Central and state enforcement agencies to identify sub judice cases involving drug kingpins and ensure effective prosecution.
This approach to dismantling drug cartels is a key element of the enforcement strategy to address the challenge of drug trafficking, while reaffirming the government’s zero-tolerance policy against drug abuse, it added.