According to a report by the international health organization World Health Organization, the rate of oral cancer among Pakistani men is the highest across South Asia.
The prevalence of this cancer in the country is approximately 4 percent, while in Karachi it reaches up to 30 percent due to the excessive use of gutka. In Karachi, every fifth person is addicted to gutka, mainpuri, and mawa.
Sharafi Goth police had arrested a suspect named Muhammad Tahir in 2021. According to the police, a large quantity of materials used for making gutka and mawa was recovered from his house, including a mawa packing machine, mawa mixing machine, 100 kilograms of wet betel nut, 6600 grams of tobacco, 20 kilograms of lime, 64 kilograms of china powder, 26 kilograms of chemicals, and 15500 grams of prepared mawa.
The Sindh High Court had rejected the bail plea of the accused Muhammad Tahir, but most individuals involved in the gutka business manage to escape punishment.
According to legal experts, only 5 percent of arrested suspects receive punishment from the courts. The reasons include poor police investigation and weak prosecution. According to Sindh Police data, in 2019, 10,194 cases related to gutka were registered, out of which 5,500 cases are still pending. Similarly, by the end of 2025, 145 gutka dealers were arrested, but so far none have been convicted.
According to the spokesperson of Sindh Police, in a recent meeting chaired by IG Sindh Javed Alam Odho, it was decided to further intensify and make more effective the ongoing actions against those selling gutka and mawa.
