Chandigarh: With the seizure of 24 Kg Heroin by the SSOC,Amritsar yesterday and 3 truck loads of Poppy Husk (252 Quintals) within the last 15 days by the Mansa Police, the systematic action against drug smugglers has gained further impetus.

In the year 2012, the main focus was to identify and nab the organised smugglers who were importing Heroin from across the border and breaking the supply lines. In the year 2013, after understanding the smuggling network, a two-fold strategy was adopted in the form of taking effective steps in coordination with the BSF to stop entry of Heroin into the State and wherever the smugglers managed to succeed in bringing narcotics to Punjab, the same be tracked and seized before it was transported out of the State or distributed locally.

Under these parameters, Punjab Police has achieved considerable success in seizures of Heroin this year which has crossed an all time high of 348 Kg. Other than Heroin, concerted action has also been taken against import and sale of Poppy Husk in the State, with Punjab Police parties raiding places of source of Poppy Husk, in other states like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.

After achieving a fair amount of success against organized smugglers, a State-wide crack down on peddlers was done in order to stop the street sale of Heroin and other drugs. In 6 months, from mid April to date, a total of 8705 Narcotics cases have been registered and 9808 persons have been arrested.