Chandigarh: It is one of the country's most prosperous states and produces the bulk of national foodgrain stock, but Punjab may soon take the lead in a dubious field — narcotics.
Police have seized hundreds of kilograms of drugs in the first seven months of the year, the highest in the country.
The recovery included 160kg of heroin, valued at nearly Rs2 billion (Dh159 million) in the international market, 50,000kg of poppy husk and 455kg of opium.
"It is a matter of great concern that such a huge haul was made," admitted Punjab Director General of Police P.S. Gill.
Senior police officials say drug abuse has been rampant in the state and an especially high number of cases in the last decade. With just 1.5 per cent of the country's geographical area, the frontier state contributes over 60 per cent of India's total foodgrain production.
It also shares a 553-km barbed-wire fenced international border with Pakistan and most of the contraband seized in the state is believed to originate in Pakistan or Afghanistan, police officials said.
Drugs worth over Rs20 billion could be transiting and landing in Punjab, sources in the police department said, adding that drugs worth over Rs8 billion have been seized in the past two years alone.
Awareness campaign
The actual seizure of drugs is much higher, with agencies like the Border Security Force (BSF), Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, customs department, Anti-Narcotics cell and others too seizing huge quantities.
Gill said over 4,000 people have been arrested, and nearly 1,500 people convicted under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act of 1985.
"We have started a campaign to make youth aware of the harmful effects of drugs. Drying up the demand for narcotics is the best method to check their smuggling," he said.
Under the multi-disciplinary campaign, drug addicts and criminals were identified by police and, after receiving consent from their families, made to undergo rehabilitation programmes.
Recently, Punjab Police constituted an Anti-Narcotic Task Force (ANTF) to counter the menace. With drugs seizures on the rise, ANTF has decided to install incinerators to destroy the narcotics without causing pollution.
In 2009, drugs seized by police and other agencies included nearly 600kg of heroin, 400kg of cannabis, 350kg of marijuana, nearly 3,000kg of opium besides 373 tonnes of poppy husk.
Researchers at Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar, in a survey, found that 73.5 per cent of those between 16 and 35 years of age in the state were addicted to drugs.
