LAHORE: The Faisalabad City police are going to launch a major operation against drug cartels after the arrest of 80 women and 20 male traffickers who were supplying narcotics to university and college students.

Police reports have revealed that the women traffickers dominate the city as they are perceived as less suspicious than men. During interrogation, the suspects revealed that they were supplying drugs through several ‘supplier networks’ to education institutions. The drugs are being routed through district Jhang from Sindh and KP and some groups are working under political backing. The use of internet and social media has become popular for trafficking synthetic drugs.

An official said the anti-narcotics cells of the Faisalabad City police arrested 80 women smugglers during the last five months and a majority of them were operating in urban hubs, exclusively targeting students and children of the elite for supply of ice and cocaine. Women traffickers were used to supply drugs in education institutions and hostels.

During the last five months, police lodged 4,700 FIRs against the drug suppliers. Ninety percent cases were registered under section 9(c) (non-bailable offence) of the Control of Narcotic Substances Act (CNSA).

Faisalabad police arrested 80 women, 20 men for trafficking in last few months

“The supply of ice and cocaine by women smugglers to the education institutions had posed a potential challenge for police,” Faisalabad Regional Police Officer (RPO) Sohail Akhtar Sukhera told Dawn. He said the role of women drug cartels, especially their backing by the highly influential bigwigs, was a matter of concern.

Some leading lady drug traffickers were identified as Shehnaz alias Cheeno, Suraya, Rabia Dogar, Saira Pathani, etc, he said.

The female smugglers had created their respective drug empires across Faisalabad, the DIG said, adding that the arrest of women traffickers helped them secure a majority of the education institutions and students. The male big drug distributors marked by the police included Hamza alias Kamoka, Sunil Dogar, Riaz, Nadeem, Waseem, Shahzad etc.

The RPO said that a majority of the drugs was being smuggled through the goods transport. He added that the police had also engaged the prosecution department to ensure punishments to the criminals. He said police had obtained the details of the social media accounts and the phone numbers of the drug traffickers.

“The police teams are all set to launch fresh crackdowns,” the RPO said, adding that police would also seek cooperation of Nadra and other relevant institutions to reach the criminals.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2026