Mumbai: City’s North region witnessed steep rise in drug crimes in 2017

Mumbai: The cases of possession of narcotic substances have increased more than double in 2017 in north region of Mumbai, as the police have arrested 65 people and registered 57 cases at different police stations. In 2016, 25 people were arrested for illegal possession of narcotics substance and 33 cases under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act were registered in North Region covering long stretch from Goregaon to Dahisar with 16 police stations.

The illegal possession of controlled substances beyond permissible limit, either small or big quantity, is a serious offence under NDPS Act. The sale of narcotic substances including heroin, charas, cocaine, mephedrone, ganja, etc is on the rise due to major slum pockets in north region. In the last one year, there has been a steep rise in drug crime cases registered in north region of Mumbai police that covers from Goregaon to Dahisar.

Most of the drugs are sold in slum pockets of Malwani, Goregaon, Dindoshi, Dahisar, etc where the sale of ganja is highest, said a senior IPS officer. Last year, 38 people were arrested with ganja. In 2016, the police had arrested 25 people with ganja in 17 cases registered under relevant sections of NDPS Act.

Last year, 2,179 people were arrested for consumption of drugs in the north region. The corresponding figure for 2016 was 1,812. “The continuous interaction with local residents have helped us to crackdown on illegal sale of drugs,” said the IPS officer. Total 2,158 cases under relevant sections of NDPS Act were registered in 2017. The annual data reveals that total 2,244 people were arrested in 2017, whereas in 2016, the city police arrested 1,845 people under NDPS Act.