In a major revelation, it has emerged that the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Chandigarh Zonal Unit sleuths conducted a surprise check at a night club in one of Ludhiana’s posh areas on Saturday night (November 22). The action followed inputs gathered during a secret investigation, which revealed that drug peddlers have been targeting club- and pub-going youth of the city and trapping them in the vicious and highly organised web of narcotics trafficking.

According to highly placed sources, the new modus operandi of these peddlers involves disguising themselves as regular partygoers. After identifying potential targets, they allegedly coerce them into meeting inside the washrooms of these establishments and lure them into sampling and ultimately purchasing narcotics under the guise of casual party enjoyment. Washrooms are considered the safest locations by these operatives to conduct deals with both old and new clients, as they are able to avoid detection from CCTV surveillance within the premises.

Sources further disclosed that a range of narcotics, including ganja, cocaine, methamphetamine (meth), heroin, and ice, are being traded through this system, often in small quantities to avoid raising suspicion.

It has also come to the fore that several popular nightspots in the city, particularly those located on Canal Road and in South City, are now under the scanner of the NCB. The agency is believed to have drawn up a strategy to conduct targeted raids during peak operational hours in an effort to catch the peddlers red-handed and disrupt the expanding drug supply chain in the nightlife circuit.

Notably in recent years, the NCB has intensified its nationwide crackdown on high profile drug consumption in entertainment spaces, including parties, clubs, and private events. Its actions have included several high visibility operations, such as the much-discussed raid on a luxury cruise ship off the Mumbai coast, where multiple individuals were detained on allegations of drug possession and consumption.