Narcotics eradication teams set up to go after drug mafia in KP

PESHAWAR: Taking serious note of the increasing use of drugs in the society, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has set up special Narcotics Eradication Teams (NET) at districts to go after the drug dealers.

In every district, the NET will be headed by a deputy superintendent of police assisted by 40 policemen, one third of which will be Elite commandoes.

The NETs will include a number of inspectors and sub-inspectors and their jurisdiction will be the entire district. “The NETs will start working in a day or two with aggressive operations against the big fish. They will go after the drug mafia across the district and will submit report daily,” Inspector General of Police (IGP) Moazzam Jah Ansari said while confirming the establishment of special teams.

The police chief said three teams would be constituted in every district.

“In Peshawar, there will be four special teams of the NET to go after the drug dealers, particularly against those involved in sale and production of ice or meth,” said Moazzam Jah.

The NETs will be under the direct command of the district police officer.

All the DPOs have been tasked with finding upright, dedicated and brave officers to be appointed as heads of the NET in their areas.

“The station house officers will be held responsible for inaction or complicity if they fail to go after the drug business in their area. Action against the SHO will be taken either for his inefficiency or otherwise criminal involvement of any of his subordinate or himself in the dirty business,” an official informed.

According to the official, the special teams will submit daily report to DPO and will work in two shifts. They will be provided at least three vehicles and other facilities for effective operations.

A crackdown on drug dealers is already underway across KP and a number of dealers are being held daily. It is alleged that some cases are mere eyewash that the SHOs lodge to show an increased number of arrests to their bosses.

“In connection with the fresh crackdown, all the districts, sub-divisions and police stations have been tasked with preparing lists of big fish in their area. The cops involved in mere eyewash will be held accountable and strict action will be taken against them for either negligence or criminal involvement,” said an official.

The Peshawar Police set up a special Ice Desk at the police lines a few months back. The desk is working exclusively to collect data about drug dealers in the city and their connections in other districts.

There were reports that most of the police stations were not enjoying good coordination with the desk and that is why the drug business was still going on. Several operations against ice dealers, manufacturers and traffickers were launched across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the number of 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 a large number of women and teenagers have become ice addicts. The drug dealers have specially targeted educational institutions and hostels to lure the youth.

Many ice addicts were also found to be involved in various crimes.

A campaign was launched in many districts to create awareness among the parents, teachers and general public about the harms of ice, heroin, hashish and all kinds of drugs. It was learnt that some tablets and syrups being sold at medical stores are also being used by the addicts when they can’t find other drugs.

The official data of the KP Police showed that 73.4kg ice was seized in Peshawar in 2020. The second biggest recovery, 57kg, was made by the Mardan police in 2020.

Among the regions, 115kg ice was recovered from Mardan division, with 57kg from Mardan district, 34kg from Charsadda, 12kg from Nowshera and 11kg from Swabi.

A total of 39kg recovery of ice was made by the police in the remaining five divisions of the province including Malakand, Hazara, Kohat, Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan in the year 2020.

The statistics showed that 9.8kg of ice was recovered in the Kohat region, 4kg in Hazara, 13kg in Bannu, 8.1kg in Dera Ismail Khan and 4.4 kg in Malakand during 2020.