According to a spokesperson for the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF), a nationwide crackdown against those selling drugs to students is ongoing.
In the last 24 hours, six suspects were apprehended in five different operations around educational institutions.
During these operations, approximately 15 kilograms of drugs valued at over Rs 1.2 million were seized.
Near Farash Town in Islamabad, 150 grams of hashish and 10 ecstasy pills were recovered from one suspect. Similarly, in Lahore, near a university on Defence Road, 200 grams of hashish and 100 grams of ice were found on another suspect.
At a college near Canal Road in Lahore, 2.4 kilograms of hashish, 100 grams of ice, and 50 ecstasy pills were seized. In Latifabad, Hyderabad, two suspects were found with 96 bottles of alcohol and 2 kilograms of hashish.
Additionally, a raid in Tandojam, Hyderabad, near a university resulted in the recovery of 10 kilograms of hashish.The arrested suspects have confessed to selling drugs to students in educational institutions.
According to the World Bank’s 2019 report, 43 percent of young people in Pakistan’s educational institutions are using alcohol and other narcotics.
Earlier the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) shut down a factory in the densely populated Danishabad area of Peshawar that was manufacturing pharmaceutical drugs and illicit narcotic tablets.
Authorities seized 1,425 tablets, 2.5 kilograms of powder used in drug production, 120 grams of methamphetamine (ice), along with various other chemicals.
The suspects were allegedly distributing drugs to students residing in hostels and educational institutions.
Published in Express Tribune on 28 September 2024.