India, April 7 -- The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has detained at least eight alleged key drug dealers from Punjab and West Bengal under the stringent PITNDPS Act and transported them to prisons in Assam and Jharkhand over the last eight months to break their network as part of a major crackdown, officials aware of the matter have said.

Officials added that the agency is working on similar proposals in different states to detain habitual drug traffickers in prisons across Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, among other states.

Under the provision of the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (PITNDPS) Act 1988, habitual drug traffickers can be detained initially for at least a ...