SHILLONG, MAR 10: Director General of Police (DGP) Dr LR Bishnoi on Friday said drug traffickers are supplying drugs free of cost to increase the number of consumers.
“The drug traffickers used to contact directly with the consumers. But now with the help of the middlemen they have changed their strategy and they started supplying drugs free of cost to the consumers so that they can increase the number of consumers and their supply remain intact,” Bishnoi told reporters.
“That is surprising for us because when we arrest drug addicts in particular they always tell us that we are from a very poor family and we get the drugs free of cost from the traffickers. So free of cost means the traffickers will give free of cost only for a few days and once they become drug addicts after that traffickers will not take care of them and what they will do, they will start stealing money from their own homes, from friends – those kinds of problems are there,” he added.
He informed that police also recently arrested one person from West Jaintia Hills, who has stolen Rs 8 lakh gold ornaments of his own mother. “Can you imagine? These kinds of social side effects are there and if they can quarrel with their own mother, if they can injure their own family members, then you can expect they can go to any extent.”
The DGP said that the police are looking into all these nitty-gritties and what can be done and how we can involve the society and the stakeholders.
He also expressed concerned that the problem of drug menace is no longer confine in urban areas but has shifted to villages across the state.
“So many youths from the villages they also started taking drugs. Secondly, few years back the problem was confined to the male population but now lots of young girls have started taking drugs,” he added.
Meanwhile, Bishnoi informed that the police have arrested 234 drug peddlers and drug users in 2022 and seized drugs worth over Rs 50 crore from them surpassing the state’s collective records of the past 50 years.
The police have seized over 7 kg of heroin worth over Rs 45.22 crore and over 27,000 bottles of cough syrup worth over Rs 1.38 crore last year, he said.
“We have arrested 234 drug peddlers and drug users which include 20 women last year and seized drugs worth over Rs 50 crore,” Bishnoi said.
The drugs seized include over 7 kg of heroin worth over Rs 45.22 crore and over 27,000 bottles of cough syrup worth over Rs 1.38 crore last year besides other items like ganja (nearly 4 tonnes), opium (over 600 gm), meth amphetamine tablets (over 12,800 tablets), he said.
By Our Reporter
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