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Focus on catching big fish involved in drug trade: Punjab DGP
The development came close to the heels of the Punjab Police chief directing all the commissioners of police (CPs) and senior superintendents of police (SSPs) to identify and catalogue the main drug suppliers/peddlers in their respective districts within seven days.
Punjab Police has shifted focus to dismantling high-level drug networks by targeting big fish, including drug suppliers and kingpins fuelling the narcotics trade in the state, said director general of police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Thursday.
“We are not stopping at street-level arrests of drug peddlers/smugglers. Punjab Police teams are now rigorously questioning all the arrested drug peddlers/smugglers to trace and identify the big fish in the narcotics trade in the state,” the DGP said while addressing a press conference here at Punjab Police Headquarters here.
The development came close to the heels of the Punjab Police chief directing all the commissioners of police (CPs) and senior superintendents of police (SSPs) to identify and catalogue the main drug suppliers/peddlers in their respective districts within seven days.
The DGP said that the anti-drugs campaign ‘Yudh Nashian Virudh’ launched by the Punjab government on March 1 has resulted in arrest of 4,142 drug smugglers after registration of 2,384 first information reports (FIRs) across the state and led to recovery of 146.3 kg heroin, 85.3 kg opium, 19.95 quintals poppy husk, 7.69 lakh intoxicant tablets/capsules, 1 kg ICE and ₹5.83 crores drug money from the possession of drug smugglers.
He revealed that the ongoing crackdown has led to a drastic reduction in street-level drug availability, prompting police to now pursue the big fish behind the supply chain.
He said that all the police officers have already been mandated to personally oversee the mapping exercise to prepare details of the suppliers funnelling drugs in their respective areas and catalogue them on the basis of interrogation reports, public tips, intelligence inputs, data from the safe Punjab helpline and backwards and forward linkages unveiled in criminal investigations under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
The DGP further said that taking a cue from the success of village defence committees (VDCs), the Punjab Police is now set to form ‘Mohalla Committees’ in urban areas as part of its intensified war against drugs.
“Just as VDCs strengthened rural policing in border areas, Mohalla Committees will empower urban communities to fight the drug menace collectively,” the DGP said while emphasising that citizen involvement is crucial to eradicate drug menace from the state.
The DGP also urged the citizens of the state to make maximum use of Safe Punjab Anti-Drug Helpline ‘9779100200’ to report drug traffickers anonymously.
