With technological advancements, drug peddlers and smugglers have definitely come out with smarter ways to trade drugs while escaping arrests. While selling drugs outside schools and colleges is now passe, as per the officials of the Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) of the Mumbai Police, the new mode is to have more female peddlers. Police officers say the number of female peddlers across the city has increased significantly. Recently, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) had filed a complaint against seven women, who were allegedly running a drug smuggling syndicate. Bandra was the hub of their illegal activities. In only three months, the Bandra Police have taken action against seven women peddlers, who were trading drugs in areas like Mahim, Bandra, Kurla, Sion Koliwada, Dadar, Malvani, Shahunagar, and other slum areas. According to ANC officials, the women had hired children to transport drugs. The police say Bandra gives peddlers geographical advantage; it is an area where they can't be caught easily. "Bandra offers a wide range of connectivity to other parts of the city, be it the Western Express Highway, the Bandra Worli Sea Link or the Harbour line. Drugs get smuggled from Bandra and reach everywhere as per demands. People carrying narcotics tend to travel in trains or by roads to avoid police checking and escape arrests. Women drug dealers, whose husbands or male relatives were arrested for running the same business have gradually taken their positions. They are well-acquainted with the rules and regulations and legal actions prescribed in the Indian Penal Code and the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act for women," an ANC officer said on the condition of anonymity. Local Threat

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