3 drug smugglers held, 14-kg heroin recovered

In the Tarn Taran operation police dismantled a drug trafficking cartel with the arrest of two drug smugglers and recovered 6kg heroin from their possession, said director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav.

Ferozepur/Tarn Taran

Those arrested by Tarn Taran police have been identified as Hardeep Singh, alias Deep, and Harjeet Singh, both residents of Thathi Sohal village. The police teams have also impounded their Swift car being used for smuggling drugs.

Punjab Police arrested three drug smugglers and recovered 14kg of heroin from their possession in Ferozepur and Tarn Taran, officials said on Sunday.

“In a blow to drug trafficking, Ferozepur police’s cordon and search operation led by Mallanwala SHO Gurpreet Singh intercepted a vehicle at Khosa Dal Singh Wala, resulting in the arrest of Akash, a resident of Gawal Mandi, Amritsar, and seizure of 8kg heroin, ₹15,700 drug money, a car (PB-02-ET-3069), and a mobile phone,” said Bhupinder Singh Sidhu, senior superintendent of police, Ferozepur.

A case under the NDPS Act is registered, and further investigations are ongoing, he said.

In another operation, the Tarn Taran police dismantled a drug trafficking cartel with the arrest of two drug smugglers and recovered 6kg heroin from their possession, said director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav.

Those arrested have been identified as Hardeep Singh, alias Deep, and Harjeet Singh, both residents of Thathi Sohal village, Tarn Taran. The police teams have also impounded their Swift car being used for smuggling drugs.

Yadav said that preliminary investigations have revealed that arrested accused were in direct contact with Pakistan-based smugglers, identified as Billa and Shah, who have been delivering consignments of drugs from across the border. The probe revealed that consignments were being dropped with the help of drones, he added. More arrests and recoveries are likely in coming days, the DGP said.

Deputy inspector general (DIG), Ferozepur range, Harmanbir Singh Gill said efforts are being made to uncover the entire network of suppliers, dealers and buyers, as well as to ascertain the total quantity of drugs received by the arrested accused so far.

Sharing operation details, Tarn Taran SSP Abhimanyu Rana said acting on reliable inputs about the involvement of accused Hardeep and Harjeet in drug smuggling, a police team from CIA staff, Tarn Taran, under the supervision of DSP (D) Rajinder Minhas and DSP Gurinderpal Singh Nagra conducted an operation and apprehended them in the area of Bhusse village in Tarn Taran and recovered the contraband.

A case under Sections 21(c) and 29 of the NDPS Act has been registered at the Sarai Amanat Khan police station in Tarn Taran.

In a separate operation, the police and Border Security Force (BSF) recovered 533gm of heroin drone-dropped from Pakistan from a government school at Chak Bajida area of Jalalabad in Fazilka district. The police have registered a case and started investigation.

The police also arrested two persons, identified as Sukhpreet Singh (22) and Balpreet Singh (25) , with a .32-bore pistol and two live rounds, while another two were found in possession of a .315 bore country-made pistol with four live rounds and three .32 bore rounds in Ferozepur, said officials.