The Punjab police on Monday said it has arrested 676 drug smugglers and also recovered narcotics, including 5.57 kg heroin, in the past one week during the anti-drug drives. Police said they have also registered 559 FIRs under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act across the state.
An official spokesperson of the Punjab Police said that with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann giving police a free hand to wage a war against drugs, extensive anti-drug drives are being launched to combat the drug menace from the border state of Punjab. Immediately after taking the charge, Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav ordered all the district police chiefs to strictly adhere to the state government's zero-tolerance policy against drugs and keep vigil at drug hotspots in their jurisdiction.
The spokesperson said police recovered 5.57 kg heroin, 17 kg opium, 25 kg ganja, seven quintals of poppy husk, and 2.25 lakh intoxicant pills or capsules among other drugs after carrying out cordon and search operations in drug-affected areas, besides setting up 'nakas' (checkposts) at vulnerable routes across the state. Thirty-two proclaimed offenders and absconders in NDPS cases have also been arrested in the past week, he added.
The spokesperson said the DGP strictly ordered all police officers in the districts to further tighten the noose around drug smugglers by identifying all top drug smugglers and the hotspots infamous for drug smuggling in their jurisdictions and launching a combing operation to nab all those selling or smuggling drugs. The DGP has also directed the district police chiefs to effectively carry out forfeiture of the property of all the arrested drug smugglers so that their ill-gotten money could be recovered.
He said the Punjab Police have managed to break the drugs smuggling chain. The spokesperson said that it has come to the notice of Muktsar district police that due to less availability of heroin, drug peddlers resort to manufacturing "duplicate heroin" or 'Chitta' with help of spurious materials by mixing powder of 'patasha' (a traditional sweet made of sugar), washing soda, weed-killers, and herbicides (liquid and powder). The "manufactured duplicate heroin" is smuggled to the poor people in plastic sachets, he added.
(With PTI Inputs)
