The Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) has intensified its crackdown against drug trafficking near educational institutions and across major cities, arresting five suspects in six separate operations, officials said on Saturday.
According to an ANF spokesperson, authorities recovered 63.18 kilograms of narcotics with an estimated market value of more than Rs174 million during the operations carried out in Lahore, Peshawar, Islamabad and Karachi.
Near the Industrial Area in Lahore, ANF officials arrested a suspect and recovered 2.4 kilograms of hashish and 660 ecstasy pills weighing 325 grams. During initial questioning, the suspect confessed to selling drugs to students of educational institutions, the spokesperson said.
In another operation near Hayatabad Toll Plaza in Peshawar, ANF recovered 36 kilograms of opium from a vehicle and arrested two suspects. Separately, near Customs Chowk in Peshawar, officials seized 1.5 kilograms of ice and 1.2 kilograms of hashish concealed inside a heater, leading to the arrest of one suspect.
Near Sangjani Toll Plaza in Islamabad, ANF personnel recovered 1.5 kilograms of ice and 100 grams of hashish hidden inside a sack and arrested another suspect.
Meanwhile, in Lahore, ANF recovered 28,800 Valium tablets weighing 20.16 kilograms from a parcel at a courier office located at Yadgar Chowk. In Karachi’s shipping area, authorities seized 364,800 Valium tablets weighing 106.4 kilograms from a parcel at a courier office.
The ANF said cases have been registered against the arrested suspects under the Anti-Narcotics Act, 1997, and further investigations are under way to identify and apprehend other individuals involved in the drug trafficking networks.
