5,752 drug peddlers held in Peshawar in 7 months

PESHAWAR: As many as 5,752 drug peddlers were arrested by police while over 800 addicts were handed over to the Social Welfare Department for rehabilitation in the provincial capital during the current year.

Such a large number of arrests too, however, could not reduce the supply of narcotics to tens of thousands of people consuming various kinds of drugs regularly.

Drug addiction has become a serious threat to the youth over the last few years not only in Peshawar but in almost all the districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the rest of the country.

“The Peshawar police arrested 5,752 drug peddlers during the current year. The recovery made by the police during operations against drug dealers in the last over seven months included 226 kilograms of ice, 335kg heroin, 527kg opium and 2256kg hashish,” Senior Superintendent of Police (Operations) Kashif Aftab Abbasi told The News.

He added drug factories were also unearthed in operations in different parts.

Ice or meth has emerged to be more harmful as it has caused violent behaviour along consumers, resulting in a number of violent crimes in the last few years. “The police also handed over 811 addicts to the Social Welfare Department for rehabilitation,” SSP Operations added. He said that apart from the regular police, the special Narcotics Eradication Teams are carrying out operations against the drug mafia across the KP to unearth the manufacturing units and cut the supply to the public.

Apart from the police, there are a number of forces including the Excise and Narcotic Control Department, and the Anti-Narcotics Force that claimed busting drug mafias, unearthing narco manufacturing factories and recovering thousands of kilograms of narcotics in the last many months.

There were several special drives launched by the police and other relevant departments to create awareness among the public against the threat of drugs.

The menace is still out of control. Also, such a large number of arrests speaks of the scale of the business that is affecting tens of thousands of people, even students of colleges and universities.

A few policemen and officers of other departments that are working against the drugs were also arrested recently for allegedly smuggling drugs and selling it to the addicts in sachet packs. More actions are needed against these black sheep to effectively cut the supply route and more gangs are busted.

An operation was recently launched by the district administration to rehabilitate the large number of addicts seen on the roadsides and streets.

There are still a large number of addicts all over who need rehabilitation as well as a proper support to become productive citizens.

It was also decided recently to conduct dope tests of all students, including those of schools. This, however, caused anger and concern to the parents who questioned how young school students, even of primary grades, can be tested for drugs.

“The students of schools don’t know about drugs. Yes, hostels of universities and colleges need to be checked if there are reports of drug abuse. But more importantly, action needs to be taken against those who supply it, who produce it and who sells it on large scale,” said Sabir Jan, father of one student.