Sabahat Sarwar
Karachi: District West Police have carried out a series of major operations over the past four days, arresting 72 suspects and seizing significant quantities of drugs and gutka, while dismantling two illegal manufacturing units operating within residential areas.
According to SSP West Tariq Elahi Mastoi, the arrests include 12 individuals involved in drug trafficking and 60 accused of selling gutka. The operations were conducted across multiple jurisdictions including Orangi, Mominabad, Pakistan Bazaar, Iqbal Market, Manghopir, Pirabad, Surjani and Gulshan-e-Maymar. Police recovered 240 grams of ice, 120 grams of hashish, 7912 packets of gutka, 25 kilograms of areca nut and cash amounting to hundreds of thousands of rupees. Additional seizures included 51 packets of a foreign-brand gutka, 18 packets of Safina and 15 sacks of Chinese salt.
Acting on intelligence reports, law enforcement teams also traced and completely dismantled two key gutka factories that had been set up inside residential premises. Officials said the District Task Force, in coordination with local police, played a crucial role in targeting gutka-mawa networks and gambling operators. Authorities have begun compiling a list of facilitators, financiers and other individuals suspected of backing these illegal activities based on information obtained from those arrested.
SSP Mastoi reaffirmed that District West Police remain committed to eliminating organized crime and will continue to carry out robust and sustained operations against such elements and do intensify action against drug dealers and gutka-mawa mafias and to dismantle their networks without discrimination.
