Pune: Drug Use Has Been On Rise In Last Two Years In PCMC Areas
Pimpri, 17th January 2023: The use and sale of narcotics such as ganja, opium, and mephedrone (MD) are continuously coming to light in Pimpri-Chinchwad city. Given the huge increase in activities in the last two years, there is a fear that the youth of the city will get caught in the trap of addiction.
Although the police are taking action on a large scale, it can be seen from the operations that drug smuggling continues in the city.
During the last year, the police arrested many goons consuming ganja in public places. More than 100 people have been arrested in 97 operations in the last year. The city police force has a separate Anti-Narcotics Squad to deal with the issue. The number of operations carried out by the local police is higher than that carried out by the Anti-Narcotics Squad, the statistics of operations show.
Narcotics brought to the city for sale from outside have been seized by the city police. During the three years from 2018 to 2021, the police seized narcotics by carrying out 91 operations. While in 2021, as many as 108 and 97 operations in 2022, 108 and 97 operations in 2022, the police tried to stop the drug trade. In the past two years, the youth of the city is seen to be heavily involved in drug addiction.
The seriousness of this has increased as women have also started to get involved in the network of selling ganja. It has become easily available in all parts of the city. More than 100 kg of ganja has been seized in the last year. The police investigation has revealed that this ganja has come to the city from different states. In some operations, the police have also arrested women selling ganja.
Five members of the Bishnoi gang, notorious for selling poppy straw across the country, were arrested in Pimpri- Chinchwad town in August last year. 110 kg of poppy straw worth more than Rs 20 lakhs was seized by the police in a month-long operation. This poppy straw was brought to the city from Rajasthan.
Suppliers in Rajasthan cater to people travelling to various cities for jobs, wages, and business. The poppy straw travels from Rajasthan to Maharashtra through people who are in different cities of Maharashtra after going to their villages in Rajasthan. It is difficult to identify this opium without a detection kit. Experienced policemen working in Anti-Narcotics Squads can easily identify these drugs. Then the next action is taken. But as the regular checking point is not thoroughly investigated, this poppy straw easily comes to Maharashtra.
The United Nations adopted a resolution in 1984 to ban the production of narcotic drugs. Three years later it was converted into international law. India enacted a law in this regard in 1986. With the permission of the government, poppy cultivation can be done in states like Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan. There is a big process of permission from the government for that. Not all farmers get it. Therefore, criminal gangs are busy smuggling the said drug. It is used for medicine and poppy production. But Rajasthan has a border with Pakistan. Therefore, the police system is estimating that this opium is coming from Pakistan through smuggling in Rajasthan.
Operations On Narcotics In Five Years
Year – Cases
2018- 17
2019-40
2020- 34
2021- 108
2022- 97
Join Punekar News Whatsapp Group, Telegram, Instagram And Twitter For Regular Update about Pune City And Pimpri-Chinchwad
