In the last week, Punjab Police registered 258 first information reports (FIRs), including 28 commercial, under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, leading to the arrest of 366 drug smugglers/suppliers.
During his weekly press conference held here on Monday, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Headquarters Sukhchain Singh Gill said the police had also seized 8.44kg heroin, 7.75kg opium, 17.64kg ganja, 19 quintals of poppy husk, 59k tablets, capsules, injections, and vials of pharma opioids from their possessions, in addition to recovering Rs 1.22 crore in drug money.
As a result of 15 more arrests of proclaimed offenders/absconders in NDPS cases in the last week, the total number of arrests since July 5 has reached 444.
Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav had instructed all CPs/SSPs to investigate backward and forward links minutely in each and every case, especially when dealing with drug recoveries, even if they recovered only a small quantity.
Punjab Police have launched extensive anti-drug drives under the directive of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to combat the menace of drugs from the border state. CPs/SSPs have also been instructed by the DGP to identify all drug hotspots and top drug smugglers in their jurisdictions. In addition, he instructed police chiefs to recover the ill-gotten funds of the arrested drug smugglers by forfeiting their property.
