Case records, complaint data, and tip-offs — that’s all it took for the Delhi Police to zero in on 123 areas across the Capital, identified as “Red Zones”, which, it says, form the backbone of the city’s drug trade, The Indian Express has learnt.

The mapping exercise — which relies on records of cases filed under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, complaints received by police control rooms, and intelligence gathered through national narcotics helpline MANAS — is part of a broader effort to dismantle the city’s expanding drug distribution network, DCP, Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF), Rahul Alwal said.

According to senior officials, Shahdara district emerged with the highest concentration of such drug hotspots. Among areas which topped the chart are Sultanpuri in northwest Delhi, Nand Nagri and Seemapuri in northeast Delhi, Ambedkar Nagar in south Delhi and the Narela Industrial Area in north Delhi.

“Recognising the scale of the threat, the Delhi Police has shifted decisively from isolated arrests to a supply-chain disruption model — one designed to dismantle the entire ecosystem of suppliers, financiers, transporters, and distributors rather than only apprehending those at the bottom of the chain. The identification of hotspots is one of the key steps taken to dismantle the drug economy,” DCP Alwal said.

After the hotspots were identified, the ANTF intensified coordination with paramilitary units on raids, expanded surveillance operations and increased monitoring of repeat offenders, officers said.

Authorities said such data-driven approach had already led to a rise in enforcement activities: cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act rose from 1,179 in 2022 to 2,154 in 2025, while arrests rose from 1,499 to 2,853 during the same period. “Analysis of cases filed under the NDPS Act, and MANAS or PCR call records helped us in scientific mapping of narcotics hotspots and 123 ‘Red Zones’ were thus identified across the Capital,” said Additional CP (ANTF) Abhishek Dhania.

The mapping of the said hotspots, according to officers, would strengthen the special drives undertaken by the Delhi Police. For instance, an official said, data fetched from these hotspots are used during anti-narcotics drives like Operation KAVACH. “Under this operation, during 13 major rounds, we have carried out 12,905 raids, 98,469 people were detained for verification and preventive action, over 2,853 arrests were made in 2025 alone, and assets worth Rs 39.5 crore were seized from 90 traffickers,” Additional CP Dhania highlighted.

The current crackdown comes amid growing political pressure to curb narcotics trafficking across the country. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has pledged to dismantle domestic drug cartels by 2029, while Delhi Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu has called for a drug-free Delhi by 2027.

Officers described Delhi as a drug destination market; a transit corridor for interstate trafficking; and a digitally connected narcotics hub exploiting courier systems, encrypted communication networks and e-commerce platforms. “In these circumstances, data on hotspots would enable us to keep a close watch on interstate syndicates, financial networks, and technology-enabled supply chains,” DCP Alwal added.

Officers added that 452 repeat offenders and 40 “high-risk” traffickers are already on “special surveillance”.