Heroin seizure at Attari-Wagah border: DRI to probe ‘Afghan broom’ importer’s links in Afghanistan, India
The officials of the directorate of revenue intelligence will thoroughly investigate the links of the West Bengal-based importer and his wife, who were arrested for heroin smuggling on Friday, in Afghanistan and India during their three-day remand
The officials of the directorate of revenue intelligence (DRI) will thoroughly investigate the links of the West Bengal (WB)-based importer and his wife, who were arrested for heroin smuggling on Friday, in Afghanistan and India during their three-day remand, officials said.
The couple is accused of smuggling heroin from Afghanistan to India via the Attari-Wagah border land route. The DRI officials posted at the integrated check post (ICP) Attari, which facilitates India’s trade with Afghanistan, and the movement of people from India to Pakistan and vice-versa, seized 5.5 kg of heroin from a consignment of Afghan brooms on Thursday evening.
In the consignment of 4,000 pieces of brooms in 40 bags, the heroin was stealthily filled in 442 hollow short pieces (in 3 bags) with ends of sticks artificially sealed. The sticks were further concealed/camouflaged inside the brooms which were tied up with iron wire on the outside.
The consignment was imported by an Afghan national in a pickup truck with fake Indian IDs in connivance with his Indian national wife.
“The accused were presented in a local court on Friday evening and the court sent them to three-day remand. During the remand, backward and forward linkages of the accused in India and Afghanistan will be probed,” said an official privy to the investigation.
“The Afghan national had come out on bail 20 months after being lodged in a Delhi jail. He was arrested at the Delhi airport, around three years ago for smuggling heroin from Afghanistan in capsules. Around 400 gm of heroin was recovered from his possession at that time,” the above-quoted official added.
“After coming out of the jail, the accused thought of a new way to smuggle via the land route, but it was detected. So far, we have found that it was his first consignment from the land route,” the official said.
Earlier in 2019, customs officials had seized 532kg of heroin, which was smuggled in a salt truck from Afghanistan.