Police identify hot spots of drug peddling in Gurugram

The “hot spots” where these illegal drugs are commonly sold are MG Road, Iffco Chowk, Udyog Vihar, Palam Vihar, Sectors 5, 17/18, 29 and 93, Manesar and the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway.

The Gurugram police have identified at least 10 areas in the city as “hot spots” for the sale of narcotics, based on the number of arrests of peddlers and the seizure of drugs over the last five years.

This year, police have already registered 107 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act as on September 20-- the same number of cases as 2021 in its entirety. (Shutterstock. Representative image)

According to police, the narcotics most commonly used in Gurugram are marijuana, heroin, smack, cannabis, opium and cocaine, while drug users also look for codeine syrup and some synthetic drugs such as lysergic acid diethylamide LSD or acid, which is available only in nightclubs. The “hot spots” where these illegal drugs are commonly sold are MG Road, Iffco Chowk, Udyog Vihar, Palam Vihar, Sectors 5, 17/18, 29 and 93, Manesar and the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway.

Preet Pal Sangwan, assistant commissioner of police (crime), said they identified these locations “as the number of cases was going up and the sale of drugs was increasing”. This year, police have already registered 107 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act as on September 20-- the same number of cases as 2021 in its entirety.

Sangwan said plainclothes police teams have been deployed at these 10 crucial points to check drug smuggling and its supply across the city. “This year we have arrested the main kingpins of at least 10 drug peddling rackets who were active for the last few years, and have caught consignments of heroin, marijuana, and hashish worth at least ₹10 crore,” he said, adding that there are over 100 gangs active in the city which are involved in drug peddling and smuggling.

According to Sangwan, police did an analysis of the cases registered under the NDPS Act and identified hot spots across the city where narcotics were being sold. “We did a mapping of the hot spots and people who were arrested in the past and kept a close watch on them and activated our informers in the area, who helped us to arrest the main key players of the trade,” he said.

Sangwan said strict action will be taken against anyone found selling or buying drugs. “We have also announced a reward for people passing information related to drug smuggling or selling,” he said.

The ACP said even when the lockdown regulations were in place, a large amount of drugs, including an entire truck loaded with marijuana, were recovered in Gurugram and Nuh. “Drug peddlers had started smuggling drugs in the essential goods truck, ambulances and private cars on pretext of taking Covid patients to the hospitals,” he said.

Police said the consignments seized were smuggled from in Odisha, Rajasthan and Punjab, adding that the maximum consignment seized during the lockdown was of marijuana, the usage of which became so popular that 10 grams of the narcotic, which previously sold for ₹100, was selling for as much as ₹500 during this period.