Illicit Narcotics Trafficking and Governance Challenges in India: Structural Dynamics and Regional Case Studies from Western Border States - Punjab, Rajasthan, and Gujarat
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31305/rrijm.2025.v10.n10.039Keywords:
Cultural Resilience, Geopolitical, Insecurity, Loneliness, Psychological Stress, SpiritualityAbstract
The smuggling of narcotics in India is a dynamic issue that has far-reaching consequences to national security, governance, and human security. India lies between the Golden Crescent and the Golden Triangle, where opium, heroin, and synthetic drugs are consumed as well as transited. This research paper explores the structural dynamics, case studies, and national security issues involved in the narcotics trafficking along the Indian western border states such as Punjab, Rajasthan, and Gujarat. The study will use a mixed-methods design, integrating quantitative as well as qualitative data of seizure drugs, a comparative case study, and data provided by law enforcement officers and policy analysts. The results indicate that the patterns of trafficking are flexible and resilient and can exploit porous land, sea borders, and transit routes within the country. The state of Punjab can be seen as a high-inflow, high-consumption state facing serious public health challenges and social destabilization. Gujarat depicts the increasing cases of maritime smuggling, containerized trafficking, and an illicit market that is fueled by prohibitions. Rajasthan is mainly a transit region for drug distribution to other states. The comparative study of 2025 seizure figures demonstrates that India's narcotics trafficking is increasingly spreading to rural areas as well as metropolitan centers using internal networks of redistribution. More problems in governance are added by institutional fragmentation, judicial slowness, asymmetry of capacities and corruption. The paper also brings out the nexus of narcotics trafficking and human trafficking, where the traffickers take advantage of the same pathways and the vulnerable groups. The policy suggestions focus on the integrated border management and inter-agency coordination of intelligence. The research also recommends reforms in law and co-operation within regions. India could better manage the structural causes of narcotics trafficking by adopting a multidimensional and evidence-based framework.
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