Punjab Police Bust Cross-Border Drug Smuggling Racket; One Held Heroin, Rs 1.5L Drug Money

Amritsar: Amidst the ongoing drive against drugs launched on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Punjab Police busted a cross-border drug smuggling racket with the arrest of one person after recovering 6Kg heroin and Rs 1.5 lakh drug money from his possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Thursday.

The arrested accused has been identified as Shinder Singh, a resident of village Bute Dian Chhana in Mehatpur, Jalandhar. The accused is a habitual drug smuggler and has already been facing two criminal cases under the NDPS Act.

DGP Gaurav Yadav said that State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) Amritsar had received reliable input that accused Shinder Singh and his accomplices had recently procured the big consignment of heroin pushed into the Indian territory by the Pak-based smugglers and agencies using the riverine route in Ferozepur sector, and they are present around Amritsar to deliver the consignment to a party.

“Acting promptly, the Special Police team of SSOC Amritsar launched an operation and cordoned off the area in a planned manner resulting in the arrest of accused Shinder Singh,” he said.

Sharing more details about the preliminary investigations, AIG SSOC Sukhminder Singh Mann said that it has come to light that the Pak-based smugglers have exploited a gap— emerged due to floods— in the fencing along the river to smuggle the drug consignment via the riverine route in the Ferozepur sector a few days back.

He said that further investigations are being conducted to unearth the entire network of drug suppliers, dealers and their buyers. Efforts are being made to probe their backward and forward linkages to take the investigations to the logical conclusion by the arrest of remaining members of this group, he added.

A case FIR No. 23 dated 03.08.2023 has been registered under sections 21, 25 and 29 of the NDPS Act at Police Station SSOC Amritsar and the accused will be produced in the court for police remand in due course.