City getting high in warm arms of the law

“You are such a loser. Why are you making it such a big deal? It won’t kill you. You are missing out on all the fun, they said. I thought maybe it was not such a bad thing after all since everyone in the party was having it. Also it looked just like an ordinary cigarette. So, I took a few drags and slowly lay down on the couch as I started to feel a little light headed. Everything started to seem slow while my brain started to function super-fast. It felt uniquely good. I was relaxed. And this is how stuff (charas) came into my life,” says Aleena* (name has been changed to protect privacy), a 19-year-old college going girl, currently under treatment at a local rehabilitation centre in the city.

As soon as Aleena set her foot in the land of the lost, she was provided with the contact numbers of small-time drug peddlers. After a year of excessive intoxication and the loss of an academic session in college, she was caught by her parents and brought to the rehab.

Aleena is one of the many drug victims of the city who are ‘nourished’ by more than 10,000 drug dens blooming in the provincial capital alone while the Punjab Police appears to be sleeping cosily in the warm arms of the law.

According to the estimates of a report conducted by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF), more than 0.2 million people in Lahore are addicted to different drugs including meth, marijuana, weed, heroin, cocaine and alcohol, while almost 0.6 million people become a part of the clubs where drugs are served.

While the youths smoke away their prime ending up in various physical and psychological diseases, sources in the police tell Pakistan Today that several police officials are allegedly involved in patronizing drug dens in the city.

“The local police take monthly payments from the drug dealers for letting them run their business. This rapid mushroom growth of drug dens is not possible without the connivance of the police,” said a police official, seeking anonymity.

According to a secret police report which a source shared with Pakistan Today, following are a few names and locations of drug dealers and peddlers operating in the city:

• Maqsood Ahmad alias Kaka (area of operations Chhung)
• Muhammad Shabeer (area of operations Haideri Colony Chhung)
• Ramzan alias Jannah (area of operations Shahpur Kaanjran)
• Abid Hussain Ali (area of operations Raza Abad Raiwind Road
• Aslam alias Achhu and Faqeer alias Billa (area of operations Darbar Road Chhung)
• Ali Hussain Khokhar (area of operations Sahibaan Wala Pump)
• Gulnaz Bano alias Bhai Saab (area of operations Manga Road)
• Warris alias Achhi (area of operations MangaRoadRaiwindCity)
• Pervez alias Payja (area of operations SundarRoadRaiwindCity)
• Gul Khan alias Gullu (area of operations PunjabHotelRaiwindCity)
• Ameer Ali alias Ameer (area of operations Sham Ki Bhatiyaan)
• Babar Masih (area of operations Kuchhi Kothi Stop Samanabad)
• Chan Shah (area of operations HamdardChowkGreenTown)
• Zaigham Pathaan (area of operations Baba Fareed Colony Kot Lakhpat)
• Shaukat alias Shoki Changar (area of operationsTownship)
• Bilal alias Billa (area of operations ModelTown)
• Noman alias Nomi (area of operations Main Market Gulberg)

Sources told Pakistan Today that the area’s numberdar Anwar Nagar extorted land from the locals and established his drug selling point which got famous by the name of Nagara Jogian. At his den, a wide variety of drugs is sold openly allegedly under police protection.

Sources said that a number of cases have been registered with Nawankot and Sabzazar police against the peddlers in the area but drug peddling at Nagara Jogian continues unobstructed.

“The local SHOs take hefty monthly payments from the drug dealers which get variedly distributed till some of the high ranking officials in the police.”

Another case from Sabzazar precincts is of Mai Guddo, a former prostitute and cloth merchant who currently runs a brothel-cum-drug-den at her mansion in Dubban Pura.

A woman who was allegedly brought into prostitution through Mai Guddo, while seeking anonymity told Pakistan Today the story of Mai Guddo.

“She used to smuggle heroin and charas in guise of cloth trading from Peshawar and worked as a prostitute as well. As she got richer with the drugs trade flourishing, she started to bribe the police in order to expand her business. Many of the CIA, ANF and Punjab Police officials come to her mansion and salute, fearing the wrath of their godmother, on whom they rely for their money.”

Sources said that several cases were registered against Guddo and she was caught too, but was later released on bail and never touched again.

When Pakistan Today contacted Saddar Superintendent of Police Malik Awais and enquired about the growing drug trend in his area, he said that the police was doing its best to curb the drug trade. He said they often nabbed drug dealers but the court set them free.

When Pakistan Today enquired about Mai Guddo and allegations of police backing the dens, the senior official hung up the phone.

Talking to this scribe, spokesperson of Punjab Police DIG Rana Abdul Jabbar said that the police was cracking down hard on the drugs and the culprits would be arrested soon.

An ANF official told Pakistan Today that the burden of responsibility lay on the shoulders of Punjab Police.

“ANF has a total strength of 450 people, out of which several are deployed at seven airports in Punjab with 25 serving at the AllamaIqbalInternationalAirport only. ANF does not have enough manpower to fight drug dealers on the street level. That’s the work of the local police,” he said.

Acting ANF DG Major Tariq said that ANF was working day and night to curb the rising drug trend but there is only so much they could do. He urged for coordinated efforts to curb this menace.