PESHAWAR, Feb 24: The drug smugglers are increasingly using the public transport often leaving suspicious packets beneath seats other than their own , raising risks for innocent passengers being unwittingly implicated in the crime, say commuters and officials of law enforcement agencies.

Smugglers routinely pick out women and other simple looking people who, in their opinion might be overlooked by law enforcement authorities, they said. Recently, a woman passenger sitting on the front seat of a Swabi-bound coach objected to a packet being placed underneath her seat. The packet belonged to a teenaged boy sitting behind her, who claimed it contained electric irons. Later, it was found out that the packet contained charas.

Passengers of the coach were helpless in this regard and the young drug trafficker's was visibly triumphant when the passenger coach passed unchecked by an Anti-Narcotics Force's patrol near Nowshera.

"There is no checkpost of the ANF at a particular spot and vehicles are checked only on receiving prior information. We do not want to cause inconvenience to the public because of a strong public reaction if we stop and check a vehicle and don't find what we are looking for," an official of Anti-Narcotics Force said.

The drug trafficking, especially of charas in the flying coaches and busses, is going on unchecked as there is no checkpost on the main G.T. Road connecting Peshawar to other main districts of the province.

"Mobile checking is not a routine. We check public transport vehicles only if an informer notifies us about a smuggling bid. The menace is largely goes unchecked because of a shortage of staff ... Bribery is also a major hindrance in connection with stopping this illegal business completely", another ANF official said.

"The trend of using public transport for drug trafficking is on the rise and the law enforcement agencies must employ more staff at bus stands and bus-stops to check drug trafficking", ANF official said.

Drug traffickers - usually called Gandamar - pay coach drivers between Rs50 and Rs100 to 'help' them deliver narcotics from Peshawar to other districts. "We will deploy our intelligence at the public transport stands to check the smuggling", official assured.

Mostly women and minors are used in the drug trafficking. A large number of women are imprisoned on the charges of drug trafficking. "Women and juveniles are languishing in jails while some foreign women are also in jail after being arrested in connection with drug trafficking", a lawyer said.