The Chief Minister's Office of Punjab announced on Thursday, 11 June 2026 that Punjab Police has launched the next phase of the 'Yudh Nashian Virudh' (War Against Drugs) campaign, directing a focused three-day statewide special operation against illegal hawala traders and operators who finance narcotics networks across the state. The official post from the CMO stated that the campaign's aggressive targeting of clandestine financial channels has 'dealt a severe blow to narco-hawala syndicates,' with dedicated enforcement operations resulting in the arrest of 73 hawala operators and the recovery of ₹10 crore in hawala money under the campaign so far.

Context

Hawala operators function as informal money brokers, moving funds outside regulated banking channels. In the context of Punjab's drug crisis, these networks are widely understood to serve as the financial backbone of narcotics supply chains, enabling traffickers to receive payment and move profits without leaving a formal paper trail. By targeting this financial layer, Punjab Police is seeking to disrupt the economic infrastructure of drug syndicates rather than only intercepting contraband. The latest phase of Yudh Nashian Virudh — Punjabi for 'War Against Drugs' — marks a deliberate shift in enforcement focus: from street-level seizures to the money-movement architecture that sustains large-scale narcotics operations.

Policy Backdrop

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who has led the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab since March 2022, formally launched the Yudh Nashian Virudh campaign shortly after taking office. The initiative has since served as the state's flagship anti-narcotics enforcement programme, combining large-scale arrests, seizures, and financial investigations. Punjab's drug problem has deep structural roots. The state's long border with Pakistan and its position along established cross-border smuggling corridors have historically made it vulnerable to narcotics trafficking. Successive state governments have combined enforcement, financial tracking, and rehabilitation efforts to address the crisis, but the scale of the challenge has meant that no single approach has proved sufficient on its own. The present campaign's focus on hawala networks reflects a more sophisticated enforcement posture — one that targets the money trail rather than solely the supply chain.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary targets of this phase are hawala operators and traders who move drug money through informal channels. Communities in Punjab that have been most severely affected by drug abuse — particularly in rural districts — stand to benefit if the financial networks sustaining narcotics supply are meaningfully disrupted. Law enforcement agencies at the state level, along with financial intelligence units, are the key institutional actors in this operation. The scale of recoveries — ₹10 crore in hawala money alongside 73 arrests — signals an intent to demonstrate measurable progress on the financial enforcement front, not merely on seizure volumes.

What's Next

The CMO's announcement describes the current operation as the 'next phase' of an ongoing campaign, indicating that further enforcement rounds are planned. Authorities are expected to report on the outcomes of the three-day special operation in the coming days, including any additional arrests or fund recoveries. If the financial disruption strategy proves effective, it could become a model for other states grappling with narcotics-linked hawala networks — and may prompt calls for tighter coordination between Punjab Police and central financial intelligence agencies to sustain pressure on narco-financing channels beyond individual campaign phases.