Punjab: 55kg heroin, 3kg ICE recovered in two ops

Of this, 44.5kg of heroin and 3kg of ICE were recovered from the border area of Gajniwala village in Ferozepur district during a joint operation by the counter-intelligence wing and the Border Security Force (BSF), police said

Punjab Police on Tuesday recovered 55kg of heroin and 3kg of methamphetamine, commonly known as ‘ICE’, and a .30-bore pistol in two separate operations in Ferozepur and Amritsar.

Police said further investigation was underway to identify Pakistan-based handlers, their Indian associates, and establish both the forward and backward linkages of the entire network. (HT Photo)

Of this, 44.5kg of heroin and 3kg of ICE were recovered from the border area of Gajniwala village in Ferozepur district during a joint operation by the counter-intelligence wing and the Border Security Force (BSF), police said.

A case has been registered under Sections 21 (C) and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act at the State Special Operations Cell (SSOC) police station, Fazilka, against unidentified persons.

Director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said the consignment had been dropped by a drone from across the international border and was recovered following specific intelligence inputs developed by CI-Ferozepur.

Sharing details, IGP (counter-intelligence) Ashish Choudhary said police teams received information about drone movement near the India-Pakistan border in the Gajniwala area. “The pinpointed inputs were immediately shared with the BSF, following which joint teams conducted an extensive search of the surrounding fields. During a thorough search of the area, the police and BSF teams successfully recovered the consignment,” Choudhary said.

Meanwhile, Amritsar rural police arrested three persons and recovered 10kg of heroin, a .30-bore pistol and a motorcycle from their possession in the Ram Tirth area, officials said on Tuesday.

DIG (border range) Harmanbir Singh Gill and SSP (Amritsar rural) Kanwalpreet Singh Chahal said the arrests were made on August 24 following specific intelligence inputs.

The accused were identified as Shajan Arora, 26, of Bhilowal Pakka village in Lopoke, Vijaypal Singh, 23, of Sarai Amanat Khan in Tarn Taran district, and Jasanpreet Singh, 24, of Gandiwind village under Sarai Amanat Khan police station.

The officers said preliminary investigation had revealed that the accused were allegedly in contact with Pakistan-based smugglers and were involved in a cross-border drug supply network. A case has been registered at Lopoke police station under Sections 21 and 29 of the NDPS Act.

The police said Vijaypal has two previous cases registered against him under the NDPS Act. One of these cases, registered at Lopoke police station in 2025, pertains to the recovery of 1kg of heroin from his possession, while the other was registered at Sadar Batala police station in 2024.