By IANS,
Chandigarh : With Punjab facing a huge problem of drug addiction among the people, especially the youth, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal Monday asked the central government to effectively check smuggling of narcotics through India-Pakistan border.
Talking to the media in Bathinda town, 250 km from here, Badal pointed out that increasing seizure of drugs by the Punjab Police suggested that the first line of defence, manned by the Border Security Force (BSF) on the border, seemed to be porous.
He said that the state police alone had seized over 265 kg of heroin from across the state in the last few months.
“The Punjab Police can only play the second line of defence and we have recovered more than 265 kg of heroine during last few months against total seizure of 500 kg in whole country,” Badal said.
He said that the state government and the Punjab Police have intensified their war against the drug mafia.
Badal said that large scale arrests, auction of properties of drug mafia and a coordinated campaign by various agencies alone could finish the menace forever.
Punjab has a 553-km-long barbed wire fenced international border with Pakistan which is manned by the BSF.