Earlier, in a joint operation with ATS Gujarat on July 12, Punjab Police recovered 75 kg heroin from a container at Mundra Port in Gujarat. (Representational)The seaports of Gujarat and Maharashtra have emerged as new routes for smuggling drugs into the country, Punjab Police on Monday said, citing recent recoveries of contraband.
In the last two months, Punjab Police have recovered 185.5 kg heroin smuggled via seaports of Gujarat and Maharashtra. The consignments were supposed to be delivered in Punjab, Inspector General of Police (IGP) headquarters Sukhchain Singh Gill said.
“In the latest haul, the Nawanshahr Police on Sunday recovered 38 kg heroin— that had apparently entered India’s borders via the sea route of Gujarat, from a truck coming from Bhuj in Gujarat. Two persons were arrested. This recovery is in addition to the 13.51 kg heroin recovered in the state last week, taking the weekly cumulative quantity of heroin to 51.51 kg,” the IG added.
Earlier, in a joint operation with ATS Gujarat on July 12, Punjab Police recovered 75 kg heroin from a container at Mundra Port in Gujarat.
Subscriber Only Stories
In a similar operation with Maharashtra Police on July 15, 72.5 kg heroin was recovered from a container at the Nhava Sheva Port in Mumbai.
Addressing the a press conference on drug recovery, the IG said that “Punjab Police have arrested 370 drug smugglers/suppliers after registering 283 first information reports (FIRs), including 33 commercial, under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act across the state in the last one week.”
The police have also recovered Rs 1.09 crore of drug money, 13 kg opium, 12 kg ganja, seven quintals of poppy husk, and 1.36 lakh intoxicant pills/capsules/injections/vials among other drugs after carrying out cordon and search operations in drug-affected areass besides putting up nakas (check points) at vulnerable routes across the state.
The IG said that “with 17 more Proclaimed Offenders (POs)/Absconders in NDPS cases arrested this week, the total number of arrests reached to 247 since the special drive to arrest POs/absconders was started on July 5.”
Meanwhile, the DGP Gaurav Yadav has ordered all the CPs/SSPs to further tighten the noose around the drug smugglers by identifying all top drug smugglers and the hotspots infamous for drug smuggling in their jurisdictions and launching a combing operation to nab all those selling/smuggling drugs.