Chandigarh, Dec 19 (IANS): Amid the ongoing war against drugs launched on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Punjab Police have arrested 271 drug smugglers and suppliers after registering 192 FIRs under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in the past week.

Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sukhchain Singh Gill, while addressing his weekly press conference here on Monday, said the police have also recovered 10.08 kg heroin, 13.52 kg opium, 5.52 kg ganja, 3.43 quintals of poppy husk, and 54,123 tablets, capsule and injections of pharma opioids, besides recovering Rs 17.66 lakh drug money from their possession.

He said with 11 more proclaimed offenders (POs) and absconders in NDPS cases arrested in the last week, the total number of arrests reached 573 since the special drive was started on July 5.

Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav had given strict instructions to all the CPs and SSPs to investigate backward and forward linkages minutely in each and every case, especially related to drug recoveries, even if they recover a meagre amount of drugs.