PESHAWAR: While stressing the need for strict measures to check supply of narcotics to students on campus, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Apex Committee on Wednesday decided about a crackdown on the leading drug traffickers in the province.
The decision was taken during a meeting chaired by caretaker Chief Minister Mohammad Azam Khan and attended by Peshawar Corps Commander Lieutenant General Hassan Azhar Hayat, finance minister Ahmad Rasool Bangash, chief secretary Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry, inspector general of police Akhtar Hayat Khan, additional chief secretary of the home and tribal affairs department Abid Majeed, secretaries of the relevant departments, and other civil and military officials.
The apex body reviewed progress on the implementation of its decisions made in the last meeting regarding smuggling, extortion, illegal Sim cards and weapons, hawala and hundi, fake documentation, narcotics, and non-customs paid vehicles, according to an official statement.
The participants also discussed the repatriation of illegal immigrates, the profiling of non-custom paid vehicles, and the registration of seminaries.
Calls for measures to check supply of narcotics to students on campus
They examined actions taken by various provincial and federal bodies against smuggling, extortion, use of illegal Sim cards and unlicensed weapons, illegal forex trade, fake documentation, drugs, and NCP vehicles in the province.
They directed federal and provincial authorities to continue well-coordinated actions against those involved in illegal activities, especially extortion, in a more effective and systematic manner.
The apex committee decided to hold a special session on extortion issue to devise a comprehensive strategy to effectively deal with the issue.
It directed the Anti-Narcotics Force, excise, taxation and narcotics control departments and police to devise a joint strategy to check narcotics trade.
The forum paid tribute to the security forces and law-enforcement agencies over sacrifices in the war against terrorism, offered Fateha for the martyrs, and sympathised with their families.
The chief minister said that officers and personnel of security forces and law-enforcement agencies had offered unprecedented sacrifices for the nation.
He added that the government and people held those sacrifices in high esteem.
Mr Khan said that the government, security forces and the nation were committed to defeating terrorism and that there was a need for checking illegal activities promoting terrorism in the province.
The chief minister directed authorities to ensure the implementation of the apex committee’s decisions in letter and spirit, and strengthen the coordination mechanism for stakeholders to deal with the “illegal spectrum” in an effective manner to achieve the desired results.
Published in Dawn, November 9th, 2023
