Mumbai Police Registers Over 3,400 Drug Consumption Cases In Six Months, Outnumbering Possession Offences

Mumbai: Despite an intensified crackdown on the narcotics trade, drug consumption remains one of the biggest challenges, underscoring the need for a holistic approach to curb the social ill, alongside stringent policing. A sharper focus on awareness campaigns and counselling facilities is the need of the hour.

According to Mumbai Police statistics covering the period from January to June, the cases registered for drug consumption far outnumbered offences filed for possession of contraband under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Between January and June, police registered 4,012 NDPS cases, comprising 586 possession cases and 3,426 consumption cases. As many as 3,787 people were arrested, while narcotics worth over ₹206.38 crore were seized.

The drugs seized during the same period included 428.45kg of ganja, 45.64kg of MD, 12.63kg of charas, 2.77kg of heroin, 0.85kg of cocaine, 4.98kg of other drugs, 215 tablets and 95.8 litres of cough syrup. The data indicates that ganja continues to account for the largest quantity of drugs seized, while mephedrone (MD) remains the most valuable narcotic recovered due to its high market price.

MD worth around ₹146.7 crore was seized in just six months, accounting for nearly 71% of the total seizure value. The wide gap between drug possession and consumption cases reiterates that demand-side enforcement remains a major focus for Mumbai Police. The figures also suggest that anti-narcotics units and local police stations continue to target both street-level peddlers and the organised drug trade. A similar trend was noted last year when 7,623 NDPS cases were registered, including 1,141 possession cases and 6,482 consumption offences, and 6,777 people were arrested.

In 2025, police seized 1,758.97kg of narcotic substances, 15,911 tablets and 1,737.24 litres of cough syrup, with the total seizure value estimated at ₹857.12 crore. The impounded contraband also included 1,397.17kg of ganja, 313.72kg of MD, 12.82kg of heroin, 23.37kg of charas and 11.13kg of cocaine. The scale of the challenge is reflected in official figures, which show that 5.7 tonnes of MD worth ₹6,550 crore were seized across the state between 2021 and 2025.

Amid growing concerns over drug trafficking, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis recently directed authorities to dismantle the illegal economy linked to narcotics and intensify efforts to make the state drug-free. Chairing a high-level review meeting, he called for coordinated action by all departments to curb the production, supply, sale and distribution of both natural and synthetic drugs.

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