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Punjab: Drug smuggling cartel busted: Minor among 4 held with 4kg heroin
Punjab director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said the arrested individuals were in constant contact with Pakistan-based smugglers, who were using the Ferozepur sector to smuggle drugs from across the border and providing precise coordinates for the drops
The Amritsar police on Monday claimed to have dismantled a drug trafficking cartel with the arrest of four drug smugglers, including a 16-year-old juvenile, and seized 4.01kg of heroin, ₹20,000 drug money and three motorcycles from their possession, said Punjab director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav here on Monday.
The arrested individuals have been identified as Tarsem Singh alias Sema (23), Amrit Singh alias Abhi (21), both residents of Jalalabad in Fazilka; Ramanjit Singh alias Raman (19), a resident of Tarn Taran, and a juvenile from Ferozepur.
Yadav said that the arrested individuals were in constant contact with Pakistan-based smugglers, who were using the Ferozepur sector to smuggle drugs from across the border and providing precise coordinates for the drops.
“The juvenile, whose identity has been withheld due to his age, played a critical role in the operation by using boats to cross the Sutlej to retrieve drug consignments, dropped by Pakistani smugglers, from areas near the international border fencing,” he said.
The DGP said that two separate FIRs have been registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in this regard and further investigations are ongoing to establish backwards and forward linkages in both the cases. More arrests and recoveries are likely in the coming days.
Sharing details, Amritsar commissioner of police (CP) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that acting on a tip-off, police teams apprehended the accused persons from areas of Chheharta and Cantonment.
The CP said that efforts are being made to uncover the entire network of suppliers, dealers, and buyers, as well as to ascertain the total quantity of drugs purchased by the arrested individuals so far.
Two separate cases, one under Sections 21(c), 23, and 29 of the NDPS Act at Chheharta Police Station, Amritsar and another under Sections 21(c) and 27-A of the NDPS Act at Cantonment Police Station, Amritsar, have been registered.
