Punjab to continue war against drug menace: Sukhbir Badal

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today said the state government is committed to continue its war against drugs and called for sealing the border with Pakistan to stop smuggling of drugs.
In a statement, the Deputy Chief Minister, who also holds the Home portfolio, said the porous and riverine tracts along the Pakistan border and "deficient" manpower were negatively impacting Punjab and the nation.
"Hence effective steps should be taken at the earliest to seal the border on par with Kashmir and stop smuggling of drugs into the State" said Badal adding that BSF should be equipped with modern gadgets to foil neighbour's plan to spread narco-terrorism in the country.

He also stressed upon enhancing the deployment of BSF personnel at Indo-Pak border.
The Deputy CM said over 10,000 cases were registered in year 2015 under The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and the state narcotics control bureau had confiscated 63 consignments in the border areas.
Among the seizures were 12 kg heroin in district Tarntaran, 18 kg heroin in Amritsar, 13 kg heroin in Ferozepur, 25 kg heroin in Fazilka and 74 kg heroin in Ferozepur district.

He further said in 2014, a total of 14,482 cases were registered under NDPS Act and 17,001 accused arrested whereas in 2015, total 10,162 cases were registered and the 11,874 people put behind bars.

The Deputy CM said the Punjab Police is not leaving any stone unturned to eradicate the menace of drugs and keeping a constant vigil along the international border to prevent the inflow of drugs into the state.
As part of this, the police was taking strict action against unscrupulous elements indulging in drug trade and had put 75,399 persons behind bars from 2007-2014, he said.
Sukhbir Badal said "No drug is produced in Punjab. In fact, synthetic drugs and narcotics are produced in Pakistan and Afghanistan and are transited through Punjab. The responsibility of stopping their smuggling lies with central agencies. Punjab is contemplating a second line of defence including deployment of a commando unit to stop seepage of drugs into the country."

Elaborating more, he said as part of de-addiction and rehabilitation efforts, 5 model drug de-addiction centers had been established.
He said 21 government de-addiction centers had also been made functional. He said 1.08 lakh patients had visited de-addiction OPDs in 27 civil hospitals and rehabilitation centers setup in the state during last year.