Posted in: Asia
By Tribune
Aug 9, 2007 - 7:58:38 PMDigg this story!
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In two distinct trends that could spell trouble for Punjab, international watchdogs, including the UN, have warned that the state has become the biggest global gateway for drug trafficking while security agencies and the Punjab police have realized that almost all sections of society are involved in smuggling of drugs.
The Punjab police and various central agencies have launched a major offensive against drug traffickers and have collectively recovered 203 kg of heroin since the start of this year. This could be just 5 to 6 per cent of the drug that is trafficked into Punjab from Pakistan and Afghanistan, said officials.
The Punjab police has been on a special drive against drug smugglers for the past three months. The latest case was registered this morning by its counter-intelligence wing. Angrez Singh, alias Rajbir Singh, and his accomplice Gurpreet Singh were arrested in Amritsar with 3 kg of heroin, a Chinese made pistol and a SIM card of a Pakistani cellular operator.
The wing has seized 56 kgs of heroin and registered 20 cases during the drive. Investigations into these cases have revealed that the profile of drug traffickers has changed. DIG of the wing Jagdish Mittal says among those arrested included two women belonging to middle class families. One of the women was from Mohali. Mittal’s team also nabbed an Army man, who was posted at Amritsar.
Traffickers use the cities of Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Ferozepur, Ludhiana and Patiala and union territory of Chandigarh as a base to smuggle narcotic substances through Punjab into New Delhi and Mumbai for their further transportation to other countries.
Source: http://www.sikhsangat.org