58-year-old ‘drug queen’ held with 104 vials of banned drugs

A 58-year-old woman from Sector 38, who was arrested on Wednesday with vials of banned drugs, had taken to a path of crime with petty thefts and later came to be known as ‘the drug queen’.

Bala was arrested after a complaint by a Chandigarh police patrolling party that she tried to dispose of a polythene bag when stopped for questioning near the Ziri Mandi Chowk close to the Sector 39-D slip road.

The bag had 104 vials, including 60 of 2 ml each with Buprenorphine, used for treating drug addiction and 44 injections of 10 ml each with Pheniramine maleate, an antihistaminic agent with moderate sedative properties. Both are combined for use and are banned in the retail market

A case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act was registered against her at the Sector 39 police station.

Bala, according to police records, faced 52 cases, of which she has been convicted in 22. A habitual offender, she was involved in burglary, thefts and NDPS cases.

She was produced before the court and sent to judicial custody on Thursday.

“Bala is one of the biggest drug suppliers in the city, trading in banned substances for more than two decades and is referred to as the drug queen . Every small supplier arrested in city used to get their supplies from her,” said Shruti Arora, assistant superintendent of police (ASP), south.

From thief to drug supplier

Part of the Sansi community, Bala, who was illiterate, was a mother of four. The first case registered against her was that of burglary in 1992. Involved in residential break-ins till 2004, she was caught with drugs in 2006, police sources say.

Bala was introduced to the world of crime by Kamala, a close associate and drug peddler, and the two started committing petty thefts. In 1999 Bala started supplying smack.

Though physically challenged, Kamala successfully ran a drug trade which Bala subsequently took over.

Sources in the police as well as local courts claimed that she had links with drug dealers in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab, and her family members were involved in the illegal trade too.

All deals were reportedly struck over the phone.

Bala had established connections in the city’s discotheques and had upmarket clients who remained in constant touch with her on the phone.

Over the years, she had hired youngsters to act as her couriers, paying them regular salaries, even getting them motorcycles for travel.

With her associates in UP, Bala could arrange for drugs such as heroin, cocaine, opium and smack, police sources said.