Patna: Seizures of more than 17.53 lakh litres of liquor worth Rs 140.95 crore, over 21 tonnes of ganja, nearly 52 kg of heroin and the arrest of 56,904 people in prohibition-related cases highlight the scale of Bihar’s ongoing crackdown on liquor smuggling and narcotics in 2026, said Ajay Pandey, DIG of the Prohibition and Anti-Narcotics Task Force.
Sharing the figures during a press conference on Monday, Pandey said the state’s monthly liquor seizure rate has increased significantly this year.
“Between January and May 2026, state police recovered 17.53 lakh litres of liquor, including 8.01 lakh litres of country-made liquor and 9.51 lakh litres of foreign liquor. The average monthly seizure stood at 3.50 lakh litres, an 11% increase from the monthly average of 3.14 lakh litres recorded in 2025, when police seized 37.75 lakh litres of liquor worth Rs 293.58 crore,” he said.
The Prohibition and State Narcotics Control Bureau also reported a rise in enforcement activity. It has recovered 5.31 lakh litres of liquor worth Rs 61.05 crore in the first five months of 2026. Its average monthly seizure of 1.06 lakh litres is 24% higher than the 85,645 litres per month recorded in 2025, he said.
Pandey said special surveillance is being maintained on spirit traders. “While 1.31 lakh litres of spirit were seized in 2025, police have already confiscated 38,474 litres till May this year.” He noted that the bureau’s Special Operations Group has intensified interstate action against liquor syndicates. Six operations conducted in Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand in 2026 resulted in the seizure of 42,044 litres of foreign liquor and eight vehicles.
The DIG said 56,904 people have been arrested in prohibition-related cases till May this year, including 19,877 traders and suppliers and 37,027 consumers. Police have also proposed confiscation proceedings against 127 individuals accused of acquiring property through the illegal liquor trade.
On the narcotics front, state police recovered 21,024 kg of ganja, 54 kg of charas, 51.9 kg of heroin and brown sugar, 1,758 kg of doda, 59 kg of opium, more than 9 lakh tablets and capsules, 3.45 lakh injections and over 2.82 lakh bottles of codeine-based cough syrup. Action under the PIT NDPS Act is currently being taken against 89 drug traffickers.
Pandey added that 97% of all liquor seized in Bihar between April 2016 and May 2026 has been destroyed, while coordinated operations against liquor, spirit and drug mafias continue both within and outside the state.
