Punjab Police claim 357 drug smugglers arrested in a week

CHANDIGARH, (ANI): The Punjab Police have arrested 357 drug smugglers after registering 269 FIRs, including 35 commercial, under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) act across the state in the last week, an official said. Punjab police began a war against drugs launched under the direction of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.

Addressing a press conference, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Headquarters Sukhchain Singh Gill said, “the Police have recovered 6.90Kg Heroin, 14.41Kg opium, 5Kg Ganja, 6.44 quintals of poppy husk, and 2.10 lakh tablets, capsules, injections and vials of Pharma opioids.

Police also recovered Rs 4.81 lakh drug money after search operations in drug-affected areas beside laying nakas at vulnerable routes across the state.”

He claimed 17 Proclaimed Offenders (POs) and Absconders in NDPS cases were arrested this week. The total number of arrests reached 280. Since, the special drive to arrest POs and absconders was started on July 5, 2022, he further said.

Director General of Punjab (DGP) of Punjab Gaurav Yadav had given instructions to all the CPs and SSPs to investigate backward and forward linkages minutely in each and every case. Especially the case related to drug recoveries.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister of Punjab Bhagwant Mann has given full liberty to the Punjab Police to wage a war against drugs.

The anti-drug drives have been launched to combat the menace of drugs from the border State of Punjab, the police said.

The Director general of police (DGP) of Punjab strictly ordered all the CPs and SSPs to identify all top drug smugglers and their hotspots. He also directed the Police chiefs to effectively forfeit the property of all the arrested drug smugglers so that their ill-gotten money could be recovered. (ANI)