Sindh, Centre to cooperate to control smugglingof narcotics

The provincial and federal narcotics controlling agencies in a meeting chaired by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Friday and attended by Federal Minister for Narcotics Control Shaharyar Afridi among others decided to launch intelligence-based operations against drug smuggling and peddling, share data of smugglers with each other and improve checks at borders to ensure that the menace of narcotics was eradicated.

The CM said his government through the provincial police and excise department had already launched an operation against drug peddlers so that ice drug, charas, hashish, cocaine, marijuana, heroin, opium, bhang, gutka, mainpuri and mawa could not find their way into the cities, particularly in educational institutions.

“Our Karachi police has shown commendable progress by seizing ice and others drugs and arresting a large number of culprits,” he said. He added that legislation was required to deal with the gutka and mainpuri cases. “We are working on legislation and soon it would be passed from the assembly,” he said.

Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah and Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr Kaleem Imam called for stringent controls on the borders of a neighboring country from where narcotics were brought to Pakistan. “In Sindh or Punjab, there is no such factory where such dangerous stuff can be manufactured but all these are smuggled into Pakistan,” the IGP remarked.

Afridi urged all the federal agencies to play their due role in curbing the drug smuggling and peddling crime and keep posting all the related information to the Sindh government. He appreciated the efforts of the Sindh government for controlling the situation.

The meeting was also attended by Sindh Excise & Narcotics Control Minister Mukesh Chawla, Adviser to the CM on Law Murtaza Wahab, Pakistan Maritime Security Agency Director General Rear Admiral Zaka ur Rehman, Chief Collector Customs Wasif Memon and others.