The Pune city police’s anti-narcotics unit detained 114 suspects in connection with 87 drug-related cases that had been filed and seized contraband worth ₹4.58 crore from their possession from January – April 2023.
Sunil Thopte, incharge, anti-narcotics cell, Pune Crime Branch, said, “There have been some specific areas around the city which can be considered as frequent among the accused who deal with illegal narcotics such as Yerawada and some other spots. The local people were as such involved, but we have come across some cases where foreign nationals like Nigerians were involved as well.”
According to the official data released, ganja has topped the list of the most bought drug within Pune city since 2022. Within the first four months of 2023, 179 kgs of ganja worth ₹35,90,160 was seized followed by other drugs such as MD and LSD respectively.
According to the anti-narcotics cell, there has also been a rise within the categories of different types of drugs with new types hitting the market such as mushroom, hashish oil and MDMA. A total of 1.04 grams of mushroom was recovered and its estimate is over ₹90,000. The sleuths busted a drug racket on Saturday where the peddlers had obtained about a kilogram (kg) drug mephedrone. The bust led to the arrest of three accused including a juvenile on Saturday evening.
“Some drugs are sourced locally from Mumbai, while ganja is being brought in states like Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh,” said Thopte.
{{/usCountry}}“Some drugs are sourced locally from Mumbai, while ganja is being brought in states like Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh,” said Thopte.
{{/usCountry}}The cell claimed that the police are regularly spreading awareness regarding the harm of consuming illegal drugs among the youth and citizens.
Civil society members state that administrations should work together to make sure there is no transportation of any sort of illegal narcotics among the states across the country.