In the 10 years since Bihar imposed prohibition, its police have seized around 3.16 crore litres of liquor and made around 7.15 lakh related arrests across the state – around 8,650 litres and 196 arrests on an average, every day. This is known.

What has flown under the radar, however, is that beyond the smuggled bottle, a parallel world of intoxicants is taking shape – one that involves pocket-sized packets, tablet strips, heroin to a distinctive variant ‘kota’, vials, soap boxes or even a petticoat fold.

For a police force that spent a decade learning to find contraband liquor in trains, tankers and horse-borne consignments, the fast-emerging market in drugs has set off a series of alarm bells they have begun tuning into, an investigation by The Indian Express shows.

Over the past three months, this newspaper reviewed case records and official data, and spoke to police officers, social workers and doctors to find how Bihar’s drugs map has steadily – and very sharply – expanded, shifting to newer…