Smuggling of medicinal drugs on rise in Tarn Taran

TARN TARAN :Paucity of heroin in Punjab has increased the smuggling of medicinal drugs in Tarn Taran.

The district police have been seizing the banned tablets and capsules on daily basis here.

As per the data, the border police have made a record seizure of seven lakh banned tablets and capsules in the last two months.

The police, however, also claimed to have sealed around five medical stores in the district after recovering banned medicines but the smuggling of medicinal drugs still thrives in the border area.

Tarn Taran district, due to its proximity to the Indo-pak border, once remained a hotspot for heroin smuggling.

Since the government has tightened its noose around the heroin suppliers and peddlers, smuggling of banned intoxicating medicines has gone up in the district.

“It is not possible for addicts to source heroin easily nowadays. Taking advantage of this, the peddlers have now started grinding the banned medicines, reducing it to powder,” said a police department official on the condition of anonymity.

“After grinding medicines and capsules such as Parvon Spas, Etizolam, Tramadol and Alprex, the peddlers sell their powdered form at higher rates,” he said.

“Drug addicts demand ‘chitta’ from the peddlers, but due to its shortage in the state, they settle for powdered medicine, which is more harmful than heroin,” he added.

The official said that drug peddlers have been selling the ‘fake heroin’ in small packets. “When drug addicts inject the fake drug, it enters their bloodstream immediately and binds to the opiate-specific receptors within the brain, which could prove to be fatal,” the official said.

16,150 TABLETS, CAPSULES SEIZED

Tarn Taran police claimed to have arrested eight persons after recovering 16,150 banned tablets and capsules from their possession in the past four days.

On August 9, anti-narcotics cell of Tarn Taran police had arrested a wholesale dealer with five lakh banned medicines.