Punjab Police arrest 258 drug smugglers, seize over 100 kg drugs worth Rs 20.5 lakh during special drive

Chandigarh [India], January 16 (ANI): In a mega crackdown on drug mafia, Punjab Police arrested 258 drug smugglers and seized over 100 kilograms narcotics worth Rs 20.5 lakh in a week. Officials said they also arrested 188 people and recovered 10,269 Chinese Dor (Deadly strings), during the raids conducted last week.

Punjab Police said they have arrested 258 drug smugglers/suppliers and registered 194 first information reports (FIRs), under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) act across the state in the last week, a press release said.

“The Police have also recovered 41.26 Kg Heroin, 13.55 Kg opium, 53.25 Kg Ganja, 4.81 quintals of poppy husk, and 5.28 Lakh tablets/capsules/injections/vials of Pharma opioids besides recovering Rs 20.48 Lakh in cash accrued through the drugs from their possession,” Inspector General of Police (IGP) Headquarters Sukhchain Singh Gill, told reporters in a weekly conference.

Gill further said that with the arrest of 15 more Proclaimed Offenders /Absconders in the last week under the NDPS Act, the total number of arrests reached 623 since the special drive was started on July 5, 2022.

The IGP said that Punjab Police have also arrested 188 people selling banned Chinese Dor and recovered 10269 Chinese dor from their possession.
“A total of 176 First Information Reports (FIRs) have also been filed against the accused for selling fatal Kite strings so far,” IGP added.

As per the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Punjab Police will take strict action against those buying/selling Chinese kite flying string, he added.

Director General of Police (DGP), Punjab Gaurav Yadav had given strict instructions to all the CPs/SSPs to minutely carry out investigations in drug-related cases.

To make Punjab a drug-free state, extensive anti-drug drives have been launched by the Punjab Police to combat the menace of drugs from the border State under the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.

The DGP has also strictly ordered all the CPs/SSPs to identify all hotspots where all top drug smugglers are present within their jurisdictions. 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, a press release said.