Explained in graphics: The Express investigation on drugs in Bihar

Bihar’s drug problem is no longer limited to illegal liquor. A parallel market for narcotics has emerged, selling brown sugar, pills, injection vials, heroin and “kota,” a raw-heroin variant. The name “kota” comes from “quota,” local slang for a dose. This matters because the trade is expanding beyond one banned product and creating new risks for policing and public health.

Police say drugs move through tea shops, paan and cigarette outlets, and roadside sellers. Consignments often enter from the Northeast, while ganja and poppy husk use separate routes. Dealers may cut drugs with adulterants before selling them. Officers also say a smaller, cheaper drug dose can keep users intoxicated longer than illegal liquor.

The data shows a rapidly expanding problem. Bihar registered 1,905 NDPS cases in January–May 2026, more than in all of 2022. Police also fear the growing narcotics network is linked to increased juvenile crime and is becoming harder to detect.

The figures show a crisis expanding quickly. Bihar registered 1,905 cases under the NDPS Act between January and May 2026. That was 83 more cases than the state recorded during all of 2022, and far above the 697 cases recorded in 2019. The case data indicates a sharp rise in recorded narcotics activity.

Seizures show the scale of supply. Ganja seizures nearly doubled, rising from 16,692 kilograms in 2022 to 31,915 kilograms in 2025. Police seized 9.29 lakh tablets in January–May 2026, compared with 29,762 during all of 2022. The STF’s narcotics cell seized drugs worth Rs 52.32 crore and made 315 arrests by October 10, 2026.

The wider prohibition background is also large. Since April 2016, police seized around 3.16 crore litres of liquor and made around 7.15 lakh related arrests. The narcotics figures show a parallel crisis emerging beside that effort.

Police describe Bihar as both a drug market and a transit route. Heroin, methamphetamine and “kota” begin largely in or around Myanmar and enter through porous parts of the Mizoram and Manipur borders. Ganja, poppy husk and charas arrive through different supply lines, connecting Bihar to neighbouring countries and states.

The Northeast corridor runs through Champhai, Aizawl and Silchar into Assam. Police believe a newer route from Changlang to Tinsukia may bypass checks. Couriers collect boxes in the Northeast and return by train. Some consignments pass through East Champaran, Kishanganj, Vaishali and Bhojpur before reaching local sellers or markets elsewhere.

Ganja comes from Nepal, Tripura, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. Poppy husk comes from Nepal, Jharkhand and within Bihar, including areas near the Bihar–Jharkhand border. Charas mainly comes from Nepal. Bihar therefore functions as both a destination and a passage to northern and western markets.

Detection is difficult because many of these drugs are compact, portable and easy to conceal. The article describes packets of brown sugar, pills, injection vials, heroin and “kota” as small enough to fit inside soap boxes or the folds of a petticoat. A small package can therefore move without looking like a large commercial shipment.

The distribution network also blends into everyday commerce. Police say drugs are sold through tea shops, paan and cigarette outlets, and roadside sellers. Couriers bring some consignments back by train after collecting them in the Northeast. Along the way, drugs may be divided into smaller doses and mixed with adulterants, making the original shipment harder to trace.

This creates a policing challenge at several levels. Officers must find hidden packages, identify substances and follow dispersed supply chains. The article reports rising NDPS cases and seizures, but the concealment methods allow the trade to operate beyond the larger liquor seizures that prohibition policing commonly records.

The growth of drug distribution can affect Bihar in two connected ways. It can increase access to intoxicants, while also creating more opportunities for young people to become involved in possession, delivery or other crime. Police specifically fear that narcotics are behind increased juvenile crime rates. The article does not establish a complete causal link, but it highlights the concern.

The juvenile figures are striking. Authorities detained 50 juveniles under the NDPS Act in 2024 alone. That compares with just 11 juveniles detained during the seven years from 2016 to 2023. The rise may reflect greater drug availability, stronger enforcement, or both; the article reports the figures but does not separate those causes.

The broader network also brings public-health and policing pressures. Drugs are sold in ordinary local outlets and may be mixed with adulterants. As cases and seizures rise, Bihar faces the need to disrupt supply routes, protect young people and understand whether enforcement data reflects expanding use, better detection, or both.

The NDPS Act provides the legal category used in the article to count Bihar’s narcotics cases. It is the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act of 1985. When police register a case under it, the incident enters the state’s official record of suspected offences involving narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances.

This framework lets the investigation compare trends across years and groups. Bihar recorded 697 NDPS cases in 2019 and 1,905 in January–May 2026. The same framework records juvenile detentions: 50 in 2024, compared with 11 across the previous seven years. Arrests and seizures provide additional measures of enforcement activity.

The article does not explain the Act’s detailed charges, bail rules, evidentiary standards, conviction rates or sentencing. It shows how the law structures police recording and enforcement statistics, not how cases finish in court. Therefore, rising NDPS cases demonstrate increased recorded activity, but do not alone prove how many prosecutions resulted in convictions.

Prohibition is a policy that bans the production, sale or consumption of alcohol. Bihar imposed prohibition in April 2016. The article presents its economic effect through the black market: when legal access is removed but demand remains, illegal sellers can charge more. Officers put the price of a black-market liquor bottle at about Rs 1,500.

That price difference can create incentives for alternative intoxicants. Officers say a smaller, cheaper dose of drugs now keeps users intoxicated far longer. This does not mean prohibition alone caused Bihar’s narcotics crisis; the article also identifies cross-border and interstate supply routes. But the changed price of alcohol helps explain why another market could become attractive.

The result is a parallel trade in heroin, “kota,” pills, injections and other drugs. Since prohibition began, police have seized around 3.16 crore litres of liquor and made around 7.15 lakh related arrests. Alongside that enforcement, NDPS cases and drug seizures have risen sharply, showing the market’s wider consequences.