‘81 kg ice drug seized in KP in four months’

PESHAWAR: As the number of ice drug (methamphetamine) addicts have increased over the several years in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the police and other forces are focusing more on cutting the supply and going after the big fish involved in the drug business.

The provincial capital along with some districts have made recovery during actions against the ice or meth dealers in recent months. According to the officials or the Peshawar police, the force in the provincial capital has recovered 81 kilograms of ice and over 120 KGs heroin during the current year.

The highest recovery of ice, 22 KG, was made by the Tehkal police followed by 8 KG in Badaber. The use of the drug has increased in society over the last few years setting the alarm bells ringing. Apart from others, a number of women and youth are addicted to the drug as well.

"Police have accelerated actions against the drug dealers across the capital city. All the divisions, circles and police stations are carrying out aggressive operations against ice, heroin and other drugs," said Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Abbas Ahsan.

As per the official statistics, apart from Peshawar, 26 KGs ice and 191 KGs heroin were recovered during the current year from the adjoining Khyber district, which is also under the command of the CCPO. "In Khyber, police have unearthed seven drug factories during the last four months while recovered huge quantity of heroin and ice in operations against the dealers," said Khyber District Police Officer Waseem Riaz. The number of factories seized during the last year was 12.

According to official data, 55kg of ice was recovered in Peshawar during the operations in the year 2019 while 73.4kg was seized in 2020.

The second biggest recovery, 57kg, was made by the Mardan district police in the year 2020. The recovery in Mardan in 2019 was 32kg. According to officials, Mardan Police recovered 12.9 KG ice in raids during the current year.

"All the police stations are involved in operations against ice, heroin and other drugs. The force has been directed to go after the big dealers as well as those supplying the drug to the areas close to hostels and educational institutions," said Mardan DPO Zahid Ullah Jan.

The official said apart from operations, police are educating youth, parents, teachers and elders of the society about the harms of ice and other drugs.

Among the hundreds of alleged ice traffickers held by the police in Peshawar in the last four months, three were also women. One of the alleged women traffickers is an auto-rickshaw driver who went viral on social media recently for being the first woman driving a three-wheeler in Peshawar.

Another woman was arrested by the cops of the Badaber Police Station. According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Badaber, Malik Habib, a woman hailing from Punjab was held while carrying 5.5 kg ice.

The third woman was held with 20 grams of ice by the University Town Police. The three women were arrested between March 26 and April 4. An operation against ice dealers, manufacturers and traffickers has been launched across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the number of its addicts increased manifold in recent years.

However, the number of addicts is still growing despite hectic efforts and operations by the police and other forces. Not only men but also a large number of women and teenagers have become ice addicts. Besides, many addicts were found to be involved in various crimes. It was learnt that some pills, injections and syrups being sold at the medical stores are also being used by the addicts when they can’t find other drugs.