GURUGRAM: The Haryana government has constituted a special anti-narcotics unit under the Special Task Force ( STF ) to tackle the growing menace of drug peddling and substance abuse in Gurugram and other parts of the state.The move comes in the wake of a recent meeting where six states — Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Delhi — and the Union Territory of Chandigarh decided to jointly fight the drug peddlers across the country’s northern region. During the meeting held in Chandigarh in the last week of August, the chief ministers of the participating states also agreed to share intelligence and details to drug peddlers to effectively curb drug trafficking.“Supply and consumption of drugs have emerged as the biggest challenge, and to deal with this problem, we have set up an anti-narcotics unit in the state. Drug peddlers are increasingly spreading their network in this part of the country. Thus, north Indian states will now join hands to curtail the burgeoning drug trade,” said DIG (STF) Satish Balan.Though Hisar and Sirsa, bordering Punjab, have emerged as the worst-hit districts in Haryana, the Millennium City has lately been pushing up demands for heroin (costing Rs 4,000 a gram) and other high-end drugs, said a senior police officer.According to sources in the police, drug peddlers, mostly Nigerian and African nationals, have been supplying drugs to consumers, including high-income group corporate executives, at the city’s select pubs and malls, which have emerged as favoured meeting place. “It is hard to deal with these African drug peddlers. We have to be very careful before taking any action against them as it becomes an international issue,” said a police officer. “Even if we arrest them, it is difficult to interrogate them because of the language barrier.”Sources in the STF suspect that drug consignments from Afghanistan, Pakistan and South Africa, among others, first arrive in Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Then, those substances reach Gurugram and other parts of Haryana through different routes. This apart, opium is legally cultivated in some parts of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, part of which is pilfered and supplied to the city illegally.“A large number of people and gangs are involved in the trade. They generally meet with regular consumers as well as prospective buyers at selected pubs and malls. The recent arrests of two Nigerians and recovery of over 1 kg of heroin from their possessions exposed a drug supply ring in the city,” said a senior police officer on condition of anonymity.However, this was not the first such arrest or seizure in the city. The Gurugram police have arrested a total of 72 drug peddlers and registered 62 cases under the Narcotics, Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act this year till August 20. Also, the police recovered 545 kg of marijuana and other drugs in the first eight months of 2018.In 2017, the police seized 600 kg of marijuana and other drugs, and filed 113 cases and arrested 116 people.“The STF is making efforts to connect all links to unearth the source of drugs, entire chain of supply and end users. We have discussed the issue in details and passed directions to our teams to start action without any delay,” said DIG Balan.

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