291 offenders nabbed for drug peddling in Solan

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, January 3

Solan police have arrested as many as 12 foreigners apart from 26 Nepalese for drug peddling in the last two years among 291 people nabbed in as many as 194 cases.

With a majority of the Nigerians lacking visa and passport they were languishing in the jail ever since they were arrested. Having knowledge of manufacturing heroin, which was the most traded drug in the district, they had been arrested while trading the contraband to the local youth.

Investigations revealed that the local youth after being addicted to these drugs also indulged in its sale in order to earn money to fund their own daily dose of drugs. The peddlers were endeavouring to rope in young students residing in and around Solan.

Solan is a border area having proximity to Haryana. As many as 20 Haryana residents too have been found involved in these cases along with people from Punjab, Delhi, Bihar, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand.

SSP Solan, Madhusudan Sharma, said, “In a bid to root out drug menace the Solan police have been working consistently to create awareness among the youth as this will curtail its demand while also coordinating with the police from neighbouring states to weed out its suppliers.”

He added that, “Our consistent efforts have resulted in the arrest of 164 offenders, including eight foreigners and 16 Nepalese, in 108 cases in 2019 as against 86 cases registered in 2018 when 127 offenders had been arrested for drug peddling.”

He assured that the names of those revealing information about such miscreants were being kept secret. He thanked women who were coming forward to give credible information about drug peddlers.

As much as 1265.976 gram heroin has been seized by the Solan police in 2019 as against 445.071 gram seized in 2018 which indicated the increasing police action on drug peddlers. Even marijuana has made its presence in the Solan area. Apart from this, 22 kg poppy husk, 2.462 kg opium and 14 kg cannabis was also seized by the police as part of anti-drug drive.