The Puducherry police have decided to launch a sustained campaign to prevent substance abuse among students, along with invoking stringent provisions of the law against drug peddlers.
“There is a renewed thrust on raising awareness on the harmful effects of drugs among students.among students. The awareness programme held near Anna Statue two days ago was part of the campaign. The campaign is to make the youth say “no” to drugs. We are planning to have a sustained campaign through street plays, seminars, short videos, and poster campaigns to spread the harmful effects of drugs,” Senior Superintendent of Police, Law and Order, Narra Chaitanya told The Hindu.
He said that the police are carrying out arrests under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act in Puducherry. In the last four months, the Puducherry police have registered around 60 cases, and arrested 128 drug peddlers under the NDPS Act.
Around 43. 679 kg of ganja and 166 Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) stamps were seized from the peddlers till April 30, this year. While the number of cases registered under NDPS in 2023 was 148, police booked 137 cases in the previous year. Last year, law enforcers arrested 361 drug peddlers and seized from their possession 128 kg of ganja and 4.9 gm of cocaine, he said.
The number of peddlers arrested in 2022 was 311. Around 87 kg of cannabis were seized from the offenders during the year, he added.
‘To break the nexus’
“We will continue our offensive against drug peddlers. The recent raid across all sub-divisions was part of the strategy to break the nexus between rowdies and drug peddlers. In recent times, we have arrested four peddlers under the stringent Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (PITNDPS). We will not hesitate to invoke the act against repeat offenders involved in the drug trade,” he said.
