eports of rising drug abuse among the youth appear to suggest that the prevention apparatus consisting of the police, the Anti-Narcotics Force and the Excise, Taxation and Anti-Narcotics Department is not up to the task. Many officers in the law enforcement agencies have been pointing fingers at their colleagues, accusing them variously of lethargy and dereliction of duty.

The gravity of the situation can be gauged from the fact that scores of drug addicts can be seen injecting drugs at some of the busiest thoroughfares, parks, markets and roadsides in major cities across Pakistan. Cities like Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Quetta, Hyderabad, Sheikhupura, Dera Ghazi Khan, Sialkot and Jhelum have become virtual hotbeds for drug trade and addiction.

But why is the law enforcement mechanism incapable of dealing with drug peddlers and smugglers? Is there anything to the suggestion that the illegal business is a means for some of the police and excise officials to make a quick buck?

Many wonder at the apparent ease with which huge quantities of narcotics are smuggled into Pakistan to reach every corner of the country.

While the illicit trade spreads across the country, some law enforcement officials brazenly make questionable claims in connection with their efforts to deal with drug dealers. There is more interest on display, however, in shifting responsibility for the failures instead of galvanising into action against narcotics dealers.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a senior Peshawar-based police officer says that arresting those dealing in large quantities of drugs is the prime responsibility of the ANF. However, he says, “most big cities and many smaller towns are infested with drug addicts. Is it not clear that the ANF is not discharging its duties effectively? It is lagging behind. To top it off, it wants the police to perform duty in its place.”

Ehsan-ul Haq, the ANF joint director, has a different view. Speaking to The News on Sunday, he says: “It is wrong to suggest that the ANF alone is responsible for operations against drug traffickers. Instead, it’s a joint duty of the police, the ANF and the Excise Department”. He says that the focus of these forces varies in accordance with their manpower and nature of duty. The ANF, he says, has limited manpower and resources as compared to the police.

“It is wrong to suggest that the ANF alone is responsible for operations against drug traffickers in mega cities. Instead, it’s a joint duty of the police, the ANF and the Excise Department,” says Ehsan-ul Haq, the ANF joint director.

“We have just five ANF centres to hold the criminals we arrest. By comparison, the police have a force around 200,000 men in the Punjab alone. There are scores of police stations in every metropolitan,” he says. The ANF mainly carries out operations against drug dealers apprehended at airports, dry ports and border entry and exit points. “ANF’s unmatched vigilance and timely action in many instances has garnered accolades from the international community,” says the ANF joint director. He says that ANF’s contribution to international efforts to control drug trafficking stand at 29 percent.

“Curbing the illicit trade is only possible when the police, the ANF, the Excise Department and other law enforcement agencies work hand in hand.” The ANF, he says, single-handedly seized 83,108.546 metric tonnes of narcotics during the January-July 2023 period. With the cooperation of the police and the Excise Department, it seized another 8,908 metric tonnes over the same period.

“In addition to operations at border areas and airports, the ANF takes action against narcotics dealers in cities. But obviously, most of it is just against the big guns involved in the illicit trade.”

Kamran Adil, the deputy inspector general of police in charge of the Investigation Wing in Lahore, says that the jurisdictions and responsibilities of the police and the ANF have been clearly defined. The police cannot deny responsibility, says the DIG. “Basically, it is the police who have to apprehend the dealers who provide narcotics to the addicts.”

Adil says that the police lack neither resources nor the ability to deal with the drug dealers. “In fact, it is the focus that has shifted from dealing with drug dealers and traffickers and other crimes to serving political leaders.” This, he says, is the major cause of police’s apparent failure.

He says there is a need to amend the anti-narcotics laws in line with the recent developments.

This is why, he says, the government has introduced some amendments.

The writer is a senior journalist. He can be reached at ahsanzia155@gmail.com