34 female peddlers arrested this year

The Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) of the Mumbai crime branch arrested 34 women for allegedly peddling drugs on the streets of Mumbai this year till date. The women include a sizeable number of repeat offenders, who get bail easily, as they are not found selling drugs in a commercial quantity, for which bail is not granted easily. Another trend is some of these women have learnt drug peddling from their parents.

Last year, the ANC arrested 42 women for peddling drugs, said ANC chief, DCP, Jayant Naiknavare. These ANC units are at Azad Maidan, Worli, Bandra, Ghatkopar and Kandivali for each of the five regions (South, Central, East, West and North). The presence of women peddling drugs is miniscule in South where there is a trend of Nigerians selling drugs. It has also been learnt from ANC that women mostly sell ganja is slum pockets found in rest of the four regions mostly north region where about 10 women have been arrested.

In the latest case, a few days ago the Kandivali unit arrested Gayatri Pandey (40) for allegedly selling 1,100 grammes of ganja worth '11,000 near a mall at Goregaon junction on SV Road. Gayatri’s husband is a rickshaw driver. “Gayatri’s father used to sell drugs a few decades ago. He passed away, after which her mother used to sell drugs. She too passed away. It seems Gayatri has learnt this from them. The women mostly have a prior record of selling drugs. Slum pockets in Malwani and Goregaon are dens for them,” said a source from the Kandivali ANC.

A source from Ghatkopar unit said, “This year we had two women who have a criminal record. Both do not have husbands and earn for their children,”

“I can’t divulge any of their names, but one woman was caught for the fifth time for selling drugs. She has been acquitted in a couple of cases while three are pending. The second woman was caught for a third time. Her mother used to sell drugs. She is no more and her daughter had taken up her work,” the source said.