Patna: Patna Police detected a sharp change in the city’s narcotics seizure pattern in 2026, with intoxicating injections emerging as a major component. As many as 4,13,375 injections were seized in the first eight months, compared with 15,900 in 2024 and 7,447 in 2025. No seizure was recorded in 2022 and 2023.The shift extends to other drugs. Police seized 29kg of smack till Aug, against 3kg in 2025, the highest quantity in available police data. Brown sugar seizures stood at 8,810 gm in 2022 and 838 gm in 2023, while 679 gm of heroin was seized in 2025. Cough syrup seizures rose to 13,995 litres from 4,936 litres in 2025 and 1,462 litres in 2024. Opium seizures stood at 1,070 gm till Aug, against 7037 gm in 2025 and 1.8814 gm in 2023. No opium seizure was recorded in 2022 and 2024.Patna SSP Kartikeya K Sharma said much of the narcotics reaching the city came from the northeast. “If the quantity is small, they use couriers. Otherwise, they come by train or other vehicles,” he said. Police have found individual carriers as well as larger syndicate-linked consignments.Sharma also pointed to local networks, recalling the Gardanibagh group popularly referred to as the “Bhaiya-Bhabhi” gang, which, he said, operated at the retail level.In March, police found a rented room in Ramakrishna Nagar allegedly being used to prepare smack and a flat in Alamganj used for distribution. They recovered 1.68 kg of brown sugar and cash, besides cheques worth around Rs 70 lakh issued in the name of a police officer.In Sept, four people were arrested near JP Setu with 274 gm of heroin. Police traced the consignment to Assam, from where it allegedly moved to Tamkuhi in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, before being sent towards Patna.Pharmaceutical drugs have also emerged as part of the illicit trade. In May, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence seized 7,500 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup from a pickup van outside Rajendra Nagar Terminal. Investigators found the consignee’s drug licence had been cancelled and the firm did not exist at the stated address.Ganja remained the largest narcotic by weight, with 1,841kg seized till Aug, exceeding 1,302 kg in 2025 and 254kg in 2024, though below 4,368kg in 2023.Sharma said the rise in injections could not be attributed to one reason, as some substances may have been smuggled earlier but received less enforcement attention. He stressed that enforcement against suppliers needed to be accompanied by counselling and treatment at de-addiction centres to reduce demand.
