Gangs of drug mafia busted in Lakki

PESHAWAR: Police during operations in Lakki Marwat have busted several gangs involved in sale and smuggling of drugs in the last few months, an official said on Tuesday.

The drug mafia landscape in Lakki Marwat is unique by the virtue of the local political patronage that it receives and the tendency to use armed force, including AK-47 and grenades against police on the slightest provocation, added the official.

The force has identified at least 30 big fish of the drug mafia in Lakki Marwat out of which 10 have been arrested along with their facilitators while actions are going on against the rest. Among the relatively small drug dealers operating in the district, 78 have been arrested while raids are being conducted to arrest the rest of the 36 identified dealers.

“Police during operations in the districts in the last few months busted several gangs of the drug mafia in Lakki Marwat. The operations by the force against the drug mafia in 2019 is much better than in 2018 and previous years.

The recoveries during the current operations are double than the past year while more people have been arrested during operations,” said a senior official at the Central Police Office. It is a feature which has been persistent and pervasive across the district, he added.

The Lakki Marwat Police along with the Counter-Terrorism Department carried out operations in the district against the drug dealers for financing local terror groups. Three police officers got injured in an armed encounter with these drug dealers in recent weeks.

The official said the police have removed a number of collaborators of criminals in the Lakki Police after they were identified. The KP Police had recently requested the government for 34 additional units of RRF.