Drug smugglers resort to travelling with women

Large quantity of heroin seized from vehicles at Fakhrabad post

MIANWALI: Weapons and drug smuggling continue unabated via Mianwali and women are being used for trafficking narcotics. The situation is worsening due to dearth of educational and employment opportunities for the youth.

Mianwali district lies on the shortest route to almost all areas of Punjab from Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, Kohat and Shakar Darra in K-P.

Recently, officials of Chakrala police station seized 24 kilogrammes of heroin and arrested four suspects at Fakhrabad Check-post.

Addressing a press conference, District Police Officer (DPO) Hassan Asad Alvi said the station house officer (SHO) of Chakrala and his team, led by Musa Khel Deputy Superintendent of Police Mehr Muhammad Riaz, seized the drug while searching vehicles entering Mianwali at the checkpoint. During the checking, Arif and Mohmmad Waqas of Nowshera district were caught with 2kgs heroin packets tied on their waists.

The sister of Waqas and wife of Arif were also carrying 4kgs of heroin in their handbags. After further search of their vehicle, police found 16kgs of heroin worth tens of millions of rupees. The four accused were aged around 20 years. Police said they were carrying the heroin from Peshawar to one Akbar Khan in Shahbaz Khel village of Mianwali district.

Sources revealed the smugglers planned to send the heroin to Karachi. The suspects have confessed to having delivered drugs to the same person last year. The DPO distributed cash prizes among police personnel who took part in the operation.



Another drug trafficking attempt was foiled by Mianwali police earlier this month during snap checking of a bus going from Rawalpindi to Kot Addu. The police seized 16kgs of heroin from the luggage of a passenger named Tahir Naqash of Haripur.

In a similar action a few days ago, Chakrala SHO Mohammad Afzal Waraich and his team stopped a car coming from Peshawar at Fakhrabad post while checking vehicles entering in the district. The driver was found carrying two packets of 2kgs of heroin each.

He was identified as Mohammad Waqar of Rawalpindi. Another 4kgs of heroin were seized from a woman of Chakwal travelling in the car. Upon further search of the vehicle, 24kgs more of heroin was found, bringing the haul to 30kgs.

Such a large quantity of heroin has been seized in Mianwali district for the first time, while smaller amounts are frequently seized at various check-posts.

Experts say creation of educational and employment opportunities in rural areas is also key to curbing drug smuggling along with the actions of law-enforcement agencies.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 28^th, 2020.