Punjab police arrest 676 smugglers in a week

Intensifying the war to completely eradicate the drug menace from the state, the Punjab Police has arrested 676 drug smugglers after registering 559 first information reports (FIRs) under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in the last week.

Addressing a press conference on Monday, a Punjab Police spokesperson said that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has given the Punjab Police a free hand and full liberty to wage war against drugs, adding that extensive anti-drug drives are being launched to combat the menace of drugs from the border state of Punjab.

Immediately after taking the charge, Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav ordered all the CPs/SSPs in the state to strictly adhere to the Punjab Government’s zero-tolerance policy against drugs and keep vigil at drug hotspots in their jurisdiction.

Divulging more details, the spokesperson said that the Police have recovered 5.57Kg heroin, 17Kg opium, 25Kg ganja, 7 quintals of poppy husk, and 2.25 lakh intoxicant pills among other drugs after carrying out cordon and search operations in drug-affected areas besides laying check-points at vulnerable routes across the state.

As many as 32 proclaimed offenders and absconders in NDPS cases have also been arrested in the past week, he added, stating that the DGP strictly ordered all the CPs/SSPs to further tighten the noose around the drug smugglers by identifying all top drug smugglers, the hotspots infamous for drug smuggling and launching a combing operation to nab all those selling/smuggling drugs. He also directed the Police chiefs to effectively forfeit the property of all the arrested drug smugglers so that the money could be recovered.

He also pointed out that due to less availability of Heroin, drug peddlers resort to the making of duplicate heroin with help of spurious material.