Drug smuggling syndicate busted in Amritsar, 1 held, 7 kg of heroin recovered

Chandigarh, Sep 17 (PTI) Punjab Police on Wednesday said it has busted a drug smuggling syndicate with the arrest of its key operative and recovered 7.1 kg of heroin from his possession.

The arrested accused has been identified as Yasin Mohammed (22), a native of Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal, presently residing at Mohali's Lalru village, Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said in a statement here.

The accused has criminal background with cases pertaining to Arms Act, Narcotics Drugs Psychotropic Substances Act, theft and snatching registered against him.

Yadav said investigation revealed that Moga-based Jagpreet Singh alias Jagga was in touch with Pakistan-based smugglers and he along with arrested accused Yasin Mohammed was running the network.

The DGP said a thorough investigation is currently underway to uncover the nexus, including both backward and forward linkages of the network.

Commissioner of Police (CP) Amritsar Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said the police teams had received a reliable input that on instructions of accused Jagpreet, his associate picked up the heroin consignment, dropped using drone by Pak-based smugglers, from a designated area in Ajnala sector.

Acting swiftly, police teams launched an intel-based operation and arrested suspect Yasin Mohammed from Wadali in Chheharta, when he was returning after retrieving the heroin consignment, he said.

Bhullar said that preliminary investigation revealed that after retrieval of contraband, accused Yasin used to deliver it to Jagpreet, who further disseminated it to his linkages in Malwa region of Punjab. They both were together lodged in Ludhiana jail.PTI CHS NB NB