The State Police have seized 28,302 kg of drugs worth Rs 153.25 crore in 5001 cases registered under the NDPS Act 1985, in which 4481 accused have been arrested. This information was given in the state assembly on Tuesday in a written reply.
To control the trade and proliferation of drugs, separate sections of narcotics control have been set up at almost all the police stations. A Task Force has also been set up with 346 posts sanctioned by the state government in March this year, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said in this reply.
Replying to the question asked by Kashinath Date, Prashant Thakur and others, the CM said an awareness campaign was undertaken in the month of June through posters, banners, and street plays at schools, colleges, railway stations and prominent locations in cities.
Action against 37,149 persons has been taken by the Police between January to April this year for selling banned gutka and tobacco products at paan shops and other stalls. A penal amount worth Rs 44.40 lakh has been recovered in the cases, the CM has informed.
The Police have been alert in such cases. In a city like Ulhasnagar, drugs worth 77.60 lakh were confiscated from 183 accused during the current year. Action against matka and gambling has resulted in arrests of 326 persons involving the amount of Rs 6.60 lakh, the reply says.
Between January to May this year, 247 cases have been registered across the state in which e-cigarettes worth 4.33 crores have been confiscated. The e-cigarettes are banned under the Electronics Cigarettes Prevention Act 2019.
In the month of May, 11 cases were registered in the cities of Mumbai, Nagpur, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Thane.
