Departments to have shared responsibility to investigate, seize narcotics

PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Pervez Khattak on Thursday presided over a meeting of the provincial cabinet that decided the sharing of responsibility for the investigation and control of narcotics in the province.

The meeting was attended by provincial ministers and secretaries, said an official handout.

Under the approved amendments by the cabinet, Police, Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Control Department and Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) would have a combined domain with shared responsibility to investigate and seize narcotics substance including Ice, Ecstasy, “Weed, Marwawa, and so on and these would be cognisable offence and would entail a severe punishment.”

The “draft-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Control of Narcotics Substance Bill 2017” is the first of its kind in the wake of 18th Amendment shaped up by provincial government to curb narcotics in the province.

The draft would be communicated to the select committee as proposed, asking for recommendation to be incorporated for the enactment of the bill from the provincial assembly.