International drugs syndicate in Ludhiana: No lessons learnt, Punjab Police again caught napping

Jupinderjit Singh

Chandigarh, January 10

With the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) busting an international drugs syndicate in Ludhiana, the AAP government and the Punjab Police face a new challenge in containing the drugs menace.

Who: State transit point for drugs

• In 2007, the World Health Organisation had for the first time termed Punjab as the “transit point” for drugs in India
• Since 2012-13, Punjab is being mentioned as one of the most drugs-infested state in the country

This is the second time that chemists or experts from Afghanistan have been found running an illegal drugs manufacturing unit in the state. Earlier, such a factory was busted in Sultanwind, Amritsar, in February 2020 and one Afghan national was arrested.

Unearthing the syndicate, the NCB arrested two Afghans. However, the state police, intelligence wing and the Special Task Force against drugs failed to detect the drug unit and presence of Afghan nationals. Much of this depends on gathering human intelligence. No lessons seem to have been learnt from past experiences.

Earlier, in a few cases of targeted killings, the police had failed to arrest the accused, whereas the Delhi Police’s Special Cell had succeeded in it.

Ludhiana is not just the financial capital of the state, but is centrally located where many security agencies keep tabs. The failure of the state agencies is a blot on its working.

Incidentally, Ludhiana was the hub of such illicit drugs manufacturing units in 2013 when the then SAD-BJP government launched a crackdown on smuggling. A couple of units in Ludhiana and another in Samrala in Ludhiana district, run by some Canada-based drugs smugglers, were busted and shut down.

In 2007, some small units were detected in Ludhiana, manufacturing ICE or ‘ecstasy drug’ from heroin. The same year, the World Health Organisation had for the first time termed Punjab as the “transit point” for drugs in India.

Since 2012-13, Punjab is being mentioned as one of the most drugs-infested state in the country. From 2014 to 2017, it was on the top in the country for registration of cases of drugs smuggling or possession under the NDPS Act. Since then, it is on second or third spot, but as per drugs crime rate, Punjab was second in the country in the National Crime Records Bureau report of 2021.