LAHORE: Barki police have arrested three suspects accused of supplying drugs in Lahore’s suburbs. The drugs had allegedly been ordered online, and police recovered more than a kilogram of charas along with ice and heroin.
On the directions of DIG Operations Faisal Kamran, the crackdown on drug dealers across the city has been stepped up.
Barki Station House Officer (SHO) Imran Nawaz led a police team on patrol. Acting on a tip-off, the team arrested the three suspects from different locations. Police say the suspects were involved in drug supply.
According to the police spokesperson, those arrested are the alleged ringleader Zohaib, Rashid, and Zohaib alias Don.
Police recovered more than one kilogram of charas, 780 grams of ice (crystal methamphetamine) and 500 grams of heroin from the suspects.
SP Cantt Atif Amir said the suspects confessed to ordering drugs online and supplying them at different locations in the suburbs.
The SP said intelligence-based operations are under way to arrest the suspects’ accomplices. Cases have been registered against the three, and they have been handed over to the Investigation Wing for further inquiry.
The alleged use of online channels to buy drugs points to a shift that worries law enforcement. Traditional street dealing relies on known spots and face-to-face contact. Digital ordering and delivery-style supply make networks harder to trace and can widen their reach into residential and suburban areas.
Barki lies on Lahore’s eastern outskirts, where spread-out settlements and semi-rural roads can make routine policing harder.
The Barki arrests are part of a larger campaign. According to a Lahore Police spokesperson, 5,486 drug peddlers have been arrested and 5,293 cases registered in the city so far this year, with police recovering 2,000 kg of hashish, 621 kg of ice and 104 kg of heroin.
Recent The Lahore Times reporting has tracked similar operations in other divisions. In one case, Shad Bagh police arrested two known dealers with charas and ice. In another, Gowalmandi and Shafiqabad police made separate hashish and liquor recoveries.
Of the three substances recovered, ice is the one health professionals are most concerned about. The synthetic stimulant is highly addictive, can cause psychosis and severe heart problems, and is often marketed to young people as a performance or study aid. Heroin remains the leading cause of opioid dependence in the country.
Police have not said which online platforms the suspects allegedly used, whether any of them has a previous record, or where the drugs originally came from.
It is also not yet clear whether the suspects will be produced before a magistrate for physical remand, or whether they are linked to other networks already under investigation.
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