Kathua police have arrested four operatives of a cross-border narco-terror syndicate involved in drone-based drug drops from Pakistan into Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab, said a senior police official on Tuesday.
Kathua SSP Shobhit Saxena said the operation began after a July 29 alert about a drone dropping a narcotic packet at Chhan Tanda village near the Indo-Pak border in Hiranagar. A joint police-BSF team swiftly recovered 447 grams of opium from the site.
An FIR was registered under relevant sections of the NDPS Act and UAPA at Hiranagar police station.
Based on local intelligence and investigation, two men—Sukhwinder Singh and Arshdeep Singh alias Raja, both residents of Punjab and employed on an NHAI project in Samba—were arrested. The duo acted as couriers for the drone consignments and were also found in possession of 411 grams of heroin.
Their disclosures led to the arrest of the intended recipient, Feroz Din alias Allu from Rajbagh, Kathua, who was reportedly in contact with a Pakistan-based drug smuggler. Further investigation revealed his link to a drug kingpin and financier from Tarn Taran, Punjab, who managed hawala transactions to route proceeds back to Pakistan.
Police said the syndicate had previously smuggled over 30kg of heroin via drone drops across Punjab and J&K.
{{/usCountry}}Police said the syndicate had previously smuggled over 30kg of heroin via drone drops across Punjab and J&K.
{{/usCountry}}“The arrested persons are hardcore criminals. More arrests and recoveries are expected as the investigation continues,” SSP Saxena said.
SSP Kathua Shobhit Saxena refused to share identity of Punjab kingpin on the grounds that police are working on certain leads.