Despite public complaints, drug sale continues

JALALABAD (PAN): Young men in their early twenties sneak into a street in this provincial capital, where drug peddlers run their illicit businesses from secure comforts of their homes, residents allege.

The street in Majboorabad, a locality southeast of Jalalabad, is a known hub of the drug commerce, residents say, accusing police of looking the other way and refusing to crack down on the peddlers.

“There is a house in the street where two drug pushers hang out along with dogs and peddle drugs to hordes of young men on a daily basis,” said a resident, wishing anonymity.

Despite repeated public complaints, police have taken no action. An elder said police had previously arrested some drug pushers, but later released them without charging them.

“Police are involved because they free the drug peddlers soon after their arrest,” the grey-bearded man said.

Rassoul Khan, who owns a shop in the locality, said the sale of drugs on the street, where dozens of youth waited for their turn to buy hashish, heroin and opium, was an open secret.

The business is being run by one man who has hired three others, claimed the 35-year-old, who suspected police complicity in the business. Khan said drug addicts were also involved in crimes, including robbery, extortion and murders.

But police spokesman Col. Hazrat Hussain Mashriqwal said several raids had been conducted in the Majboorabad area to arrest the drug pushers.

He acknowledged police only arrested addicts, not drug sellers. However, he rejected as false the allegation of police involvement in the unlawful trade.

ma/mud

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