LUCKNOW, Sept. 24 -- Uttar Pradesh Police have significantly stepped up the use of preventive detention and financial provisions against habitual drug traffickers. Seventy-one of them were detained under the PIT-NDPS Act until September 23 this year, more than 10 times the seven detentions recorded in 2024, according to a press note shared from UP Police headquarters on Thursday.

According to it, the number stood at 19 in 2025, according to figures released by the Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF). Of this year's 71 detentions, ANTF initiated proceedings against 33 habitual traffickers, while the district police handled the remaining cases.

The police have also targeted drug-linked assets worth about Rs.78.5 crore in 69 cases this year u...