Tag: opium

  • Opium manufacturing plant opens after a hiatus of 11 years in Lahore

    Established in Lahore in 1942, the Government Opium Alkaloid Factory has resumed operations from today (Thursday) as per media reports.

    The plant is now overseen by the Punjab Excise and Narcotics Control Department. Members of this high-level committee include Punjab Excise Additional Director-General Mian Ahmad Saeed with Excise Director Rizwan Akram Sherwani, Muhammad Asif and Deputy Director Hafiz Zia Mustafa.

    The facility was shut down because of irregularities reported in the distribution of opium tablets to patients and lapses in enforcement.

    It is expected that the revival of the unit will bring major benefits to the economy, potentially saving $400 to $500 million in foreign exchange.

    Additionally, this reactivation may bring about the legal transmission of opium powder to licensed pharmaceutical companies and nationwide herbal centres so that they stop relying on less effective alternatives. Indigenous use may also include its provision to addicts under a registered doctor’s prescription.

  • ANF seizes 52.6 kg drugs near Islamabad motorway toll plaza

    ANF seizes 52.6 kg drugs near Islamabad motorway toll plaza

    During an operation on Wednesday, the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) was able to seize over 52.66 kg of drugs and detain three suspects.

    An ANF headquarters spokesman said that during an operation near the Islamabad Motorway toll plaza, ANF recovered more than 52.60 kg of drugs, including 45.60 kg of charas, 4.10 kg of heroin, and 3.60 kg of opium that were hidden in two cars’ hidden compartments. The operation saw the arrest of three further suspects by ANF.

    According to details, a case has been filed against the drug traffickers and the accused’s accomplices would also face prison time.

    In a similar raid, ANF detained two individuals and seized more than a tonne of drugs at the start of this month.

    After receiving a tip, the ANF conducted a raid in the Islamabad area, capturing nearly one tonne of drugs, including 28.8 kg of heroin, along with two members of an inter-provincial drug smuggling ring, according to a spokesman for the ANF headquarters.

    The ANF has been active in carrying out raids in various cities, making it practically hard for traffickers and smugglers to move drugs within the country or across the border.

  • ANF confiscates more than one tonne of drugs during an operation in Islamabad

    ANF confiscates more than one tonne of drugs during an operation in Islamabad

    During an operation on Sunday, the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) was able to recover more than a tonne of drugs and take two suspects into custody.

    According to a spokesman for the ANF headquarters, the ANF carried out a raid in the Islamabad area after receiving a tip, seizing nearly one tonne of drugs, including 1,020 kg of hash and 28.8 kg of heroin, as well as two members of an inter-provincial drug smuggling ring.

    The refrigerated container contained medicines that were being transported out of Balochistan. After filing a case against the accused, ANF began a new investigation to find other gang members, he continued.

    In other news, the Airports Security Force (ASF) recovered 7 kg of heroin on Sunday as a result of two separate raids at the airports in Lahore and Karachi.

    Asif Ali, a passenger travelling from Lahore to Bangkok, had 5.12 kg of heroin hidden in his hand luggage, according to Anti Narcotic Force (ANF) officers. The accused had expertly concealed the heroin in his hand luggage.

    In the second operation, which was carried out at the Karachi Airport, 1.47 kg of heroin was found in Ahmed Sher’s suitcase, who was travelling from Karachi to Medina.

    While ASF representatives said that the accused had been given to ANF for additional legal proceedings, including drug charges.

  • Anti-Narcotics Force recovers ice-infused bed sheets, 102 kg drugs

    Anti-Narcotics Force recovers ice-infused bed sheets, 102 kg drugs

    The Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) seized ice drug-infused bed sheets that were being smuggled to Australia during a raid at a courier service office in Lahore. Muhammad Asad, a Muzaffarabad resident, placed the order for the package.

    Along with detaining one accused person, ANF was able to recover over 102 kg of drugs in two other operations.

    ANF Intelligence carried out a raid on GT Road in Akora Khattak, according to a spokesman for the ANF Headquarters, and confiscated 102 kg of drugs, including 84 kg of hashish and 18 kg of opium, from a truck’s hidden compartments.

    A suspect named Zaib Gul, resident of Mansehra, was also detained by the ANF. The accused’s accomplices would also face imprisonment, according to ANF official.

    The suspects have been charged in separate cases, and additional inquiries are being conducted.

    in the wake of rising drug cases, the ANF has been quite active in recent months, carrying out several operations around the nation and making it nearly impossible to smuggle drugs.

  • VIDEO: ‘PM Imran wants ANF to stop burning charas, heroin, opium; make medicines instead’

    VIDEO: ‘PM Imran wants ANF to stop burning charas, heroin, opium; make medicines instead’

    Minister of State for Narcotics Control Shehryar Afridi has said that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan wants the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) to stop burning seized drugs, and set up a factory where the same will instead be used to make medicines.

    In a video doing rounds over the internet, Afridi can be heard as saying that his department was working to set up a factory on the premier’s orders, where medicines will be made from seized drugs, thousands of kilograms (kg) of which are set ablaze every year at a drug-burning ceremony.

    “We are setting up a factory… we burn a huge cache of heroin, charas [hashish form of cannabis] and afeem [opium] every year, but other countries use them to make medicines. Now, on PM Imran Khan’s instructions, a factory will be established in Tirah [Valley] so that lives of locals can be improved,” he can be heard as saying while addressing a gathering.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    Several illegal drugs have been investigated for medical benefits such as treating hard-to-treat mental illnesses and chronic disorders.

    While cannabis or marijuana has long been known to provide pain relief, it also offers relief from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, controls nausea, and can minimise some symptoms of glaucoma and Crohn’s disease. In the United States (US) states where the drug is legalised, products for such things as period pain management are being made available to the public.

    As for heroin, a study at Hannover Medical School found opiate addicts — usually people addicted to painkillers like Vicodin, Percocet, Oxycontin, or Demerol — were able to better kick their opiate addiction after taking small dosages of heroin. Heroin is also commonly used in hospitalised pain management, particularly in palliative care.

    THE CURRENT AT ANF’S DRUG-BURNING CEREMONY: