PESHAWAR: A special anti-narcotics court here has convicted two persons for drug trafficking and sentenced them to life imprisonment with fine of Rs1 million each.

Judge Sumbal Naseer pronounced that taking the evidence as a whole, the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that Mohammad Hashim and Syed Najeebullah were knowingly carrying 17 kilograms of methamphetamine (ice/crystal meth) in the manner alleged. The court ruled that the case against both of them stood proved.

The court observed that the seized substance was a synthetic narcotic of well-known destructive potential; it was concealed in the door panel of a vehicle in a manner that showed deliberate and organised trafficking.

The court extended benefit of Section 382-B of Code of Criminal Procedure to the convicts, ordering that the period spent by each of them in detention from Aug 29, 2024, when they were arrested, to be counted in their substantive sentence.

Court also imposes Rs1 million fine on each of them

The convicts, belonging to Quetta and Pashin districts of Balochistan, respectively, were arrested by a team of Anti-Narcotics Force near Northern Bypass, Peshawar in the limits of ANF police station Peshawar.

The prosecution claimed that the high-ups of ANF had prior tip that two associates of an intra-provincial group of smugglers would be smuggling narcotics from Balochistan to Peshawar through Motorway.

A team was constituted which intercepted a double cabin pick-up vehicle driven by Hashim, whereas Najeebullah was seated on the front seat. It was stated that both of them admitted concealment of narcotics in the right and left front doors, whereas a shopping bag carrying narcotics was also lying near the feet of Najeebullah.

A total of 17 kilograms of methamphetamine was recovered by ANF from the vehicle. The convicts were charged under different provisions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Control of Narcotics Substance Act.

The state prosecutor contended that the suspects were caught red-handed while smuggling the seized narcotics. He stated that the ANF team had also recorded video of the recovery clearly showing the presence of suspects on the spot.

The defence denied the charge and instead alleged that the actual culprits arrested on the spot had been released on payment of bribe, and the present suspects were substituted for them.

The suspects claimed that they were travelling as passengers in a public coach from Mingora to Peshawar. They claimed they were taken off the coach as they had not bribed the officials and driven to a place where a pick-up vehicle was parked, from which narcotics were recovered.

The court rejected the defence version of the case, observing that the account was not supported by any evidence, although support would have been easy to find had it been true.

It observed that no passenger, driver or operator of the coach was called, no ticket, booking record or toll-plaza or bus stand footage was produced, and no one from the suspects’ family was called to prove their version.

The judge maintained that a substantial quantity of costly narcotics should be put at the disposal of officials wishing merely to take revenge for an unpaid bribe was not a proposition that the court found credible.

“No prior enmity between any of these officials and the suspects has been shown,” the judge observed.

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2026