Punjab anti-narcotics teams seize drugs worth Rs80m, arrest five inlcuding women

BAHAWALPUR/KASUR: Punjab Counter Narcotic Force teams and Kasur police carried out separate operations on Saturday in Bahawalpur, Vehari and Kasur, seizing large quantities of narcotics and arresting five suspects, including three women, according to officials.

According to a Punjab Counter Narcotic Force press release, strike teams acting on intelligence conducted two raids near Lal Sohanra, around 35 kilometres from Bahawalpur, and at Shakir Mor in Vehari district. In the first operation, officials stopped a car near Lal Sohanra and recovered 32kg of drugs, arresting Abdul Jabbar.

The press release said a second raid was launched at Shakir Mor after information gathered during interrogation about the suspect's network. Officials described the location as a dumping site used by smugglers. A woman was arrested there and what the force described as a heavy consignment of narcotics was recovered.

The PCNF said the total seizure included 382kg of high-quality charas, 92kg of opium and 1kg of ice heroin, with an estimated value of about Rs80 million. During interrogation, the arrested suspects told investigators that traffickers from several cities were in contact with them, the press release added. The cities named were Faisalabad, Sargodha, Multan, Khanewal, Bhalwal, Muzzafargarh, Kasur, Sambarial, Bahawalnagar, Pattoki, Arifwala, Kharian and Phoolnagar.

Kasur arrests

In a separate case, Kasur's B-Division police said they arrested two sisters and a man in Tibi Kambovan locality on charges of drug trafficking. Police identified the suspects as Salma, Naila and Ibrahim. According to police, Salma and Naila are sisters, while Ibrahim is Salma's husband.

Police said 3kg of heroin was recovered from the three suspects. They added that another sister, Shabnam, had been arrested a few weeks earlier and 1kg of heroin had been recovered from her. She was later sent to jail.

According to Kasur police, the family was involved in drug trafficking and the latest arrests were made as part of an ongoing anti-narcotics campaign being supervised by District Police Officer Aftab Ahmed Phularwan. A criminal case has been registered against the suspects, and samples of the seized drug have been sent to the Punjab Forensic Science Agency.

The reports emerged a day after Faisalabad police said they had arrested 80 women over the last five months on allegations of involvement in drug trafficking.