565 drug smugglers arrested in 453 NDPS Act cases in a week by Punjab police

Giving nire details on drug recovery, the IG said, “Punjab Police have arrested 565 drug smugglers/suppliers after registering 453 first information reports (FIRs), including 34 [relating to] commercial [quantities], under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act across the state in the last one week.”

In a joint operation with ATS Gujarat on July 12, Punjab Police recovered 75 kilos of heroin from a container at Mundra Port in Gujarat, while, in a similar operation with Maharashtra Police on July 15, another haul of 72.5 kilos of heroin was recovered from a container at the Nhava Sheva Port in Mumbai.

Gill said that the latest modus operandi of drug smugglers was to push big consignment of drugs through the sea route.

“Apart from recovering a big-haul of heroin, the police have also recovered Rs 16.29 lakh in drug money, 15 kios of opium, 37 kilos of ganja, 16 quintals of poppy husk, and 64,000 intoxicant pills/capsules, among other drugs, after carrying out cordon and search operations in drug-affected areas, besides laying nakas at vulnerable routes across the state. As many as ten proclaimed offenders and absconders under the NDPS Act cases have also been arrested in the past week,” he added.

Talking about the trends in drug peddling within the state, Gill said that in an attempt to evade arrest, the smugglers “nowadays prefer to smuggle the drug on foot.”

“Drug smugglers also prefer to sell drugs in smaller quantities to ensure that even if they are caught, their case is not considered as commercial. Instead of concealing drug consignments at their houses, they use ponds and fields as storage spaces for concealing contrabands to avoid recovery during raids.”

He said that “following the disclosures of the arrested drug smugglers that the supply of drugs is either from the area of Shanni-Beli villages in Himachal Pradesh, adjoining Pathankot, or from neighboring Kathua district of Jammu & Kashmir. “Border district SSPs have been asked to work in closer coordination with these neighboring state police,” he said.

‘Drug smuggler in Army uniform nabbed’

The IG said that a new modus operandi was also noticed in Malerkotla where a drug smuggler, identified as Rohit Sahi alias Goldy of Amargarh, was found wearing the Army uniform while selling heroin. “Police recovered 50 grams of heroin from his car,” Gill said.