Police say 20,000 ‘linked to drugs’ detained as special drive tops 33,000 arrests

The operation recovers hundreds of firearms, thousands of rounds and millions of yaba tablets, according to officers

Police say they have arrested 32,908 people in a nationwide “special” operation launched two and a half months ago, with more than 20,000 of them detained in drug-related cases.

In a statement on Monday, Police Headquarters said the drive began on May 1 to strengthen law and order.

Regular police operations continued alongside the campaign.

Police said another 83,817 people named in different criminal cases were arrested during the same period in separate operations.

The special drive recovered 243 firearms, 2,313 rounds of ammunition, 88 magazines, 43 cocktails, 2kg of gunpowder, 503 locally made weapons, 18 weapon parts, 17 bomb- and weapon-making tools, and 10,300 “chocolate crackers”.

Seized firearms included 76 pistols, 50 guns, 33 LGs, 30 shooter guns, 18 revolvers, 15 pipe guns, 12 air guns, four shotguns, two rifles, two SMGs and one pen gun.

Police also recovered 7.64 million yaba tablets, heroin, phensedyl, foreign and local liquor, cannabis and other narcotics. They filed 14,157 drug cases and arrested 20,439 suspects.