Punjab Police, along with central agencies, achieved a major breakthrough by apprehending 30-year-old Simranjot Singh Sandhu, an alleged kingpin in the 2020 cocaine smuggling case in Germany and key lynchpin of an international drug cartel, director general of police Gaurav Yadav said on Saturday.
“In a major breakthrough, @PunjabPoliceInd in a joint operation with a central agency has apprehended Simranjot Sandhu, Kingpin of 487 Kg cocaine smuggling case (2020) in #Germany. He is a key lynchpin of an international drug cartel and is wanted in Germany for drug offences,” Yadav announced in a post on X.
He added: “Sandhu, with international links, played a major role in smuggling drugs in #India & other #European countries.”
The DGP said the development came after meticulous investigations of “backward and forward linkages” carried out by the Moga Police into the arrest of two local smugglers — Beant Singh and Sukhdeep Singh — who were arrested with 1kg heroin on June 16, 2024.
He added: “Based on their statements, Moga Police nominated US-based Mandeep Singh and Sandhu, who were allegedly searching for purchasers for heroin in Punjab on the directions of Mandeep.”
Addressing a press conference on Saturday, inspector general of police (headquarters) Dr Sukhchain Singh Gill, along with Faridkot DIG Ashwani Kapur and Moga SSP Dr Ankur Gupta, said Sandhu belongs to Gokhuwal village in Batala. “He went to Germany in 2002 and started working as a taxi driver. In 2020, between March and June, the accused stored and transported at least 487kg cocaine, 66kg marijuana and 10kg hashish from Brazil and other South American countries to the port of Hamburg in Germany,” said Gill.
{{/usCountry}}Addressing a press conference on Saturday, inspector general of police (headquarters) Dr Sukhchain Singh Gill, along with Faridkot DIG Ashwani Kapur and Moga SSP Dr Ankur Gupta, said Sandhu belongs to Gokhuwal village in Batala. “He went to Germany in 2002 and started working as a taxi driver. In 2020, between March and June, the accused stored and transported at least 487kg cocaine, 66kg marijuana and 10kg hashish from Brazil and other South American countries to the port of Hamburg in Germany,” said Gill.
{{/usCountry}}The IGP added that the accused used to communicate using an encrypted mobile app “Encrochat”, which eventually helped German police in unearthing the drug network.
“On February 28, 2022, a court in Germany convicted Sandhu under Section 29 of the Narcotic Drugs Act and sentenced him to 8 years and 6 months in prison. However, he managed to flee to Dubai in July 2023 and then came to India in September 2023,” he said.
An official aware of the matter said the German government had alerted India about Sandhu’s movements in India in May this year, following which federal agencies alerted the Punjab Police.
He added: “For the last 11 months, Sandhu has been staying at various places in India, including Amritsar, Chandigarh, Rajasthan, Moga, etc to elude arrest. Detailed interrogation of the arrested accused is being done to verify his activities in India.”
The Moga Police has booked Sandhu under Section 21 (punishment for contravention in relation to manufactured drugs and preparations) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 at Ajitwal police station.