508 smugglers held in a week, say police

Chandigarh, July 25

The Punjab Police have arrested as many as 508 drug smugglers/suppliers after registering 389 FIRs, including 40 commercial, under the Narcotic Drugs and

Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act across the state in the past one week.

In addition, the police have also arrested 31 proclaimed offenders (POs) and absconders wanted in the NDPS cases in the past week.

Talking about the trends in drug smuggling, Inspector General of Police (IG) Sukhchain Singh Gill said using emergency service vehicles like ambulance for the drug trade raised serious concerns. As per information, the Mohali police on Sunday arrested three persons after recovering 8 kg of opium concealed in a pillow placed under the head of a fake patient lying in an ambulance during a special nakabandi on the Ambala-Chandigarh highway near Dapper village.

Addressing the weekly media conference today, the IG said in wake of this incident, DGP Gaurav Yadav had asked all Commissioners of Police and Senior Superintendents of Police to conduct meetings with hospitals and NGOs providing ambulance service to get the list of genuine suppliers so that safe passage could be provided to patients while keeping vigil on anti-social elements using such vehicles for wrongdoings.

Gill said police had also recovered over 7.93 lakh tablets/capsules/injections of pharma opioids — 6.82 lakh intoxicant tablets, 17,169 injectable narcotics, 85,442 intoxicant capsules and 8,648 vials of intoxicant syrup — from across the state last week. He said the major recovery comes after the Fatehgarh Sahib police had busted a pharmaceutical drug cartel after making a big seizure of over 7 lakh tablets/capsules/injections of pharma opioids during a raid at an illegal storage godown in Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh.

The IG further said thorough and deep investigation into the previous case, wherein the police had arrested two persons after recovering mere 175 injections of buprenorphine and 175 vials of avil, helped the Fatehgarh Sahib police to nab the main supplier.

Apart from recovering pharma opioids in massive quantities, the police have also recovered 8.37-kg heroin, 32.28-kg opium, 53.2-kg ganja, 140 quintal of poppy husk and Rs 11.73 lakh drug money after carrying out cordon and search operations in drug-affected areas and laying nakas at vulnerable routes across the state.