The state special operation cell (SSOC) wing of Punjab Police has booked 32 persons, including 18 Pakistanis, for allegedly running a cross-border drug smuggling network using drones and through the riverine routes at the Punjab border.
Nine of the total nominated accused are presently living in the US, Australia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), France and Turkey. However, the remaining are from Punjab.
According to police, proceeds of the smuggled drugs are being sent to Pakistan and Afghanistan via Dubai for further use in anti-India operations, besides funding the sleeper cells in Punjab.
According to the first information report (FIR), the copy of which is with HT, registered at SSOC’s Amritsar police station, the nominated accused are Arif, Asif, Sadiq, Chaudhary Akram, Haidar, Rustam, Mirza, Nasir, Imran Shah, Imtiaz, Mia, Bilal, Mnesha, Bhola Sandhu, Abdul Hamid Bagga, Jawed, Aslam and Shera all Pakistan nationals; Kinderbir Singh alias Sunny Dial, Gurjant Singh alias Bholu and Rajesh Kumar alias Sonu Khatri of the US; Satnam Singh and Gurlal Singh, living in UAE; Talveer Bedi and Randeep Singh alias Romi of Australia; Vinodh Kumar alias Lucky of France; Navpreet Singh alias Nav Bhullar of Turkey; and Akshey Chhabra of Ludhiana, Vinay Agarwal and Naveen Bhatia of Amritsar, and Lovejeet Singh and Manjit Singh of Tarn Taran in Punjab.
As per the FIR, the Pakistani smugglers are running a network of drug smuggling in collusion with the other accused living in foreign countries and India. The FIR was registered on the basis of a ‘true’ tip-off.
{{/usCountry}}As per the FIR, the Pakistani smugglers are running a network of drug smuggling in collusion with the other accused living in foreign countries and India. The FIR was registered on the basis of a ‘true’ tip-off.
{{/usCountry}}“As per the information, a large chunk of the smuggled consignments of heroin is being consumed in Punjab while the remaining part is being sent to Delhi and other cities,” reads the FIR registered under various sections of the NDPS Act.
It further says that the money earned from the smuggled heroin was being sent to Pakistan and Afghanistan via Dubai through a ‘big hawala network’.
“A part of the proceeds of the heroin is being used by Pakistani agencies for funding sleeper cells in Punjab and other locations. The money is also being used for anti-India operations by Pakistani spy agencies,” the FIR says, which was registered on Saturday.
A senior SSOC official, privy to the case’s investigation, said, “All the nominated accused are interlinked for running the high-level smuggling network. Our teams are raiding to nab those living in India.”
Recently, Tarn Taran and Amritsar police had busted two drug smuggling and hawala modules recovering nearly ₹2 crore of drug money. During the cases’ investigation, it was found that the drug money was being sent to Pakistan and Afghanistan through the hawala network, involving some import and export traders.
A senior police official, who wished not to be named, said, “As per the questioning of the accused arrested recently, ₹11 lakh per kg of heroin are being sent back to Pakistan and Afghanistan via hawala. The Indian smugglers are getting ₹1 to ₹2 lakh per kg from collecting it from the border. Further, the receivers sell the drugs to small-time drug peddlers, who sell them in small quantities ranging from ₹1,500 to ₹2000 per gram.”