Operation Kavach-5: Delhi Police raids 325 places in 15 districts, 74 narco offenders arrested

New Delhi [India], September 3 : Delhi Police under Operation Kavach-5 raided 325 places in 15 districts and arrested 74 narco offenders between August 31 and September 1, Delhi Police said.
Delhi police said that during the intervening night of August 31 & September 1, various teams of Delhi Police were constituted to take strict action against narco-criminals under the "O tolerance policy," and for the implementation of "Operation Kavach-5.O," 325 places in 15 districts of Delhi were raided.
"During these raids, 74 narco-offenders have been arrested in 66 NDPS cases with the recovery of a large quantity of drugs. During the operation, about 108.93 grammes of heroin, 66.28 kg of ganja, 1100 grammes of Charas, 16 grammes of MDMA have been recovered," Delhi Police said.
Apart from this, a total of 54 cases of the Delhi Excise Act were also registered, with arrest of 54 accused persons & the recovery of 78- bottles, 24-beers, 5089- quarters of illicit liquor, & 1 Scooty being used in bootlegging.
In the year 2024 till August 31, Delhi Police has arrested 961 narco-offenders in 695 NDPS cases and recovered about 65.086 kg of heroin/smack, 1.912 kg of cocaine, 2258.379 kg of ganja, 102.345 kg of opium, 42.606 kg of charas and 73.06 kg of poppy head, etc.
To tackle the menace on all fronts, a joint and sweeping operation (Operation Kavach) was launched all over Delhi in the month of May 2023 to focus on identifying and apprehending individuals involved in the trafficking and distribution of narcotics. During this operation, it was decided to target both street-level dealers and high-level traffickers and to have both a top-to-bottom and bottom-to-top approach to effectively counter drug trafficking. Till now, a total of four operations under Kavach have been conducted and during these operations, a significant quantity of drugs was seized with the arrest of many drug offenders.
Delhi Police said that the purpose of this drive was to take strict action on the supply side (drug smugglers).
"This joint operation is a significant step in our efforts to combat the drug trade and save our youth. During these operations, it was decided to target both street-level dealers and high-level traffickers, and to have both a top-to-bottom and bottom-to-top approach to effectively counter drug trafficking. These multiple raids during these operations under Kavach have unsettled the peddlers dealing in drugs and caused a terror in their minds of surprise raids, resulting in no sale for a few days and then input of less quantity of contraband in the areas," Delhi Police said.
As per the ground-level survey, it has been revealed that most of the big drug traffickers have become underground because of the surprise police action. Now, major players are avoiding bringing commercial quantity in Delhi. It is believed that they have made storehouses outside the city.
Delhi police said that the busting of a Nigerian racket with large quantity of contraband by Noida Police strengthens the belief. Ganja used to be mainly brought in large quantity through trucks. Now, they are shifting to sending in smaller quantities through cars, trains. Moreover, they generally carry ladies and children to camouflage as if a family is travelling and not be a prima facie target.
A ruthless zero-tolerance approach against drugs and drug traffickers as envisaged by the Union Home Minister is being adopted by Delhi Police.
Operation Kavach is primarily intended to save the youth and children from the menace of drugs. Although the focus is to take stringent action on the supply side (the drug traffickers), it is also appealed to all sections of society to create awareness and reduce the demand for drugs. The parents and teachers, besides the social reformers, are specially requested to sensitise the youth about the grave consequences of drug addiction and prevent them from falling prey to this deadly evil.