5,824 drug smugglers arrested, 350-kg heroin recovered in past 3 months: Punjab Police

PTI

Chandigarh, October 4

The Punjab Police on Tuesday said it has arrested 5,824 narcotics smugglers, including 916 “big fish” and recovered nearly 350-kg heroin in the past three months as part of its drive to root out drug scourge in the state.

The police have also recovered Rs 4.15 crore of drug money from the possession of smugglers arrested in these three months, officials said.

The arrests were made since July 5 during which the police registered a total of 4,444 FIRs, they said.

Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sukhchain Singh Gill said the police have arrested 5,824 drug smugglers which includes 916 “big fish”.

He said police teams also recovered 203-kg heroin from across the state after carrying out cordon and search operations at various places.

Additionally, 147.5 kg heroin was recovered by teams of Punjab Police from Seaports of Gujarat and Maharashtra, taking the total effective recovery of heroin to 350.5 Kgs in three months, he said.

The IGP said the police also recovered 251 Kg opium, 178 kg cannabis, 261 quintals of poppy husk, and 21.76 lakh tablets, capsules, injections, vials of pharma opioids from across the state.

To make Punjab a drug-free state, extensive anti-drug drives have been launched by the police to combat the narcotics menace of drugs, an official statement said.

The DGP has also strictly ordered all the police commissioners and district police chiefs to identify hotspots where drugs are prevalent.

He also directed the police chiefs to effectively forfeit the property of all the arrested drug smugglers so that their ill-gotten money could be recovered, the statement added.

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