Chandigarh, Nov 21 (PTI) The Punjab Police arrested 366 drug smugglers after registering 258 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act across the state last week, a senior police official said on Monday.

Inspector General of Police (headquarters) Sukhchain Singh Gill said the police have seized 8.44 kg heroin, 7.75 kg opium, 17.64 kg cannabis, 19 quintals of poppy husk, and 59,000 tablets, capsules, injections and vials of pharma opioids, besides Rs 1.22 crore from their possession.

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He further said 15 proclaimed offenders and absconders in NDPS cases were arrested last week as part of a special drive started on July 5.

According to a Punjab Police statement, Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav has issued strict instructions to investigate each and every case related to drug recovery minutely even if the recovered quantity is meagre.

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To make Punjab drug-free, extensive anti-drug drives have been launched by the police.

The DGP has also ordered all CPs and SSPs to identify hotspots where drugs are prevalent and also all top drug smugglers in their jurisdictions.

He has directed the district police chiefs to effectively forfeit the properties of all the arrested drug smugglers so that their ill-gotten money could be recovered.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)