DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

The Punjab Police on Sunday conducted a massive state-level cordon and search operation at identified drug hotspots and vulnerable areas with a focus on controlling the supply. The operation was conducted on the directions of Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav from 11 am to 2 pm simultaneously in all districts.

Special DGP Arpit Shukla said the police, in its effort to eradicate the drugs menace from the state, have been following a multi-pronged strategy -- enforcement, deaddiction and prevention.

"The police have been focusing on controlling drugs supply at the point of sale by booking small peddlers while illegally acquired properties of the big fish are being forfeited under the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act," he said.

The second line of defence along the border has also been strengthened to prevent smuggling from across the frontier, he added.

Shukla also said a major reshuffle is underway after directions from the DGP on personnel in the ranks of constable to inspector who have been posted at police stations for three or more years.

Officers have categorically been asked to look into forward and backward linkages of all the cases being registered under the NDPS Act and take strict action against those found colluding with drug smugglers, he said.

Smugglers lodged in jails are also being watched, Shukla added.

Following the police's strenuous efforts to root out the drugs menace from Punjab, heroin recoveries have jumped 5.6 times since 2017, he claimed.

According to data, the police seized a record 1,346 kilogrammes of heroin in 2023, 594 kilogrammes in 2022, 571 kilogrammes in 2021, 760 kilogrammes in 2020, 460 kilogrammes in 2019, 424 kilogrammes in 2018 and 179 kilogrammes in 2017.

The conviction rate under the NDPS Act has also improved from 59 per cent in 2018 to 81 per cent in 2023, Shukla said.

Apart from enforcement of laws against drugs trafficking, the police also launched a special campaign to educate the masses and get support of the general public against narcotics, the officer said. Sharing details of the operation, Shukla said more than 450 police teams, comprising more than 3,000 personnel, cordoned off 280 drug hotspots.

During the operation, the police registered 140 FIRs after arresting 166 people, he said.

The police recovered 2.7 kilogrammes of heroin, Rs 1.50 lakh in cash, 12.2 kilogrammes of poppy husk, 5,820 intoxicant tablets and a huge quantity of illicit

liquor.
(editor@dailyworld.in)