LAHORE: In a first initiative so far, the Faisalabad region police have introduced an activity-based anti-drug module for students from Grade 5 onwards and suggested to the Punjab government to replicate it to the educational institutions across the province after they detected a large-scale pervasive supply of illicit drugs – top of them the ice – to the young students.
In a letter addressed to the Punjab chief secretary, Faisalabad Regional Police Officer (RPO) Sohail Akthar Sukhera pointed out the magnitude and the scale of the crime against the school-going children, saying drug abuse has infiltrated the education institutions including the schools and colleges.
As per the reports, the five big drug trafficking networks were unearthed by the Faisalabad police during the last month or so.
The drug dealers told the police they were largely supplying ice and other drugs to schools and colleges across the region.
Suggest province-wide replication; module comprises activity-based exercises to raise awareness; police claim to have unearthed five networks last month
An official said the police recovered 170.084 kg heroin, 37.135 kg Ice and 387 kg Charas besides other illicit substances from the drug peddlers.
He said a network run by an alleged criminal, Zargam, was supplying the drugs from Chaman Border.
Similarly, other notorious drug traffickers – Amjad Khan and Sunil Dogar – were supplying the same from Peshawar to Faisalabad region.
The police arrested many major handlers/members of various gangs while raids were being conducted for the arrest of Javed and Sunil who were reportedly hiding somewhere in Peshawar.
Those arrested included Murad, Shabbir, Azhar alias Viki, Arshad, Adnan, Masood, Imran, Tanvir etc. from various parts of the region.
After breaking the drug supply chains, the Faisalabad region police high-ups constituted a team of senior police experts and held a series of meetings to bring a permanent solution to the serious matter of securing the other young students from the menace of drug abuse.
Supervised by Faisalabad RPO Sohail Sukhera, the team introduced a module after consultations with academicians, educationists, parents and members of the business community, following a survey that identified ‘peer pressure’ as a major factor behind drug use among school, college and university students.
Designed under the supervision of teachers, the programme aimed to equip students with moral resilience, awareness and life skills to resist substance abuse and make informed choices.
“The module includes structured, activity-based exercises to promote self-confidence, ethical values and positive decision-making,” says Mr Sukhera.
It has also been adapted for students of seminaries (madressahs), integrating ethical teachings, self-discipline and social responsibility to address contemporary challenges such as drug addiction while reinforcing moral values.
“The programme has been launched in private schools across the Faisalabad regionin coordination with the commissioner,” the RPO said.
The module has also been sent to authorities with the proposal of its replication across educational institutions in Punjab.
Parallel to these preventive measures, the Faisalabad region police have intensified operations against hardened criminal elements.
Acting on intelligence-based information, police teams arrested proclaimed offenders wanted in 38 murder cases and 27 attempted murder cases, besides tracing nine other serious criminal cases.
In a separate drive against narcotics, police have registered 1,473 cases and arrested 1,481 suspects. The seized contraband included 623 kg of charas, 167kg of heroin, 37kg of ice and 30,937 litres of liquor.
Published in Dawn, January 14th, 2026.
