21 drug factories busted in Peshawar, Khyber

PESHAWAR: As many as 21 drug producing factories have been busted during operations against narcotics in the provincial capital and the neighbouring Khyber district during the current year.

The latest action was taken in the Spina Warai area of suburban Peshawar from where over 15 kilograms of heroin as well as raw material was recovered.

A number of factories are reported to have been manufacturing ice, heroin and other drugs to supply to different parts of Peshawar, Khyber and other parts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and rest of the country.

Some of the factories were said to be operating in the urban areas of the provincial capital, mostly in small rented buildings and this is why a huge population can easily access these drugs.

“The police and the narcotics eradication teams have busted 21 such factories only during the current year. And a large quantity of ice, heroin, raw material and machinery being used in production were recovered. As many as 48 big fish of the drug mafia were also arrested during these actions,” Capital City Police Officer Muhammad Ijaz Khan told The News.

He added that the operation against the drug mafia was underway in both the districts that would be further accelerated in coming days. The CCPO maintained that all the divisional, sub-divisional and police station heads have been issued strict directives to go after those involved in production, smuggling and sale of ice, heroin, hashish and other drugs.

The official added that apart from thousands of kilograms or hashish, opium, liquor and ecstasy pills, 467 kilogram of heroin and 338kg of ice have been recovered in Peshawar and Khyber in the last 10 months.

Ijaz informed that over 8,000 people have been arrested for sale of drugs while police helped in shifting 1600 addicts to the rehabilitation centres.

According to an official at the Central Police Office, a total of 25909 FIRs have been registered and 27075 accused arrested in operations against drugs across the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The official informed that the police had recovered 19,388 kilograms of hashish, 1251kgs of ice, 1360kg of opium, 1462kg of heroin and 3850 bottles of liquor.

There have been complaints of increase in the use, sale and production of drugs across the province over the last many years with tens of thousands of people falling addicted to it. The addicts included women and young boys and girls as the drug mafia has started targeting hostels as well as public and private sector colleges and universities.

Many of the addicts were also said to be using different kind of pills instead of the regular narcotics since these were more easily available at medical stores.

Police along with many other forces have been conducting operations against eye mafia for long but the menace is yet to be brought under the control.

In Peshawar, the Narcotics Eradication Team (NET) has recovered 236 kilograms of ice (methamphetamine) and 675kg heroin during operations against the drug mafia from mid last year till October 2022.

These teams were launched in July 2021 for operations against the drug mafia after complaints of an unprecedented increase in the use, trafficking and sale of narcotics, particularly ice or meth. These were set up to go after the drug mafia in districts and submit reports on a daily basis.

The crackdown has been accelerated over the last few years after everyone was concerned about the reports of an increase in sales and smuggling of narcotics across the country. Along with the newly set up NETs, the local police are also conducting operations against the drug mafia as well as the peddlers involved in sales and smuggling at the local level.

A source, however, said a lot more is to be done by police and all the forces concerned since there are innumerable gangs operating across the KP to target tens of thousands of people, especially youth.