Highly organised cross-border drug cartels dismantled: Punjab Police

Chandigarh, Dec 10 (PTI) The Punjab Police on Wednesday said it has dismantled highly organised cross-border drug cartels linked to foreign-based handlers with the arrest of three persons.

Police recovered 4.083 kg of Methamphetamine, commonly known as ICE, and 1.032 kg of heroin from their possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav here in a statement.

Those arrested have been identified as Balwinder Singh alias Binder (25), a resident of village Daoke in Amritsar; Navtej Singh (33), a native of village Mahwa in Amritsar and currently residing at village in Tarn Taran; and Mahabir Singh (32), a resident of village Kaaliya Sakataran in Tarn Taran.

Preliminary investigation has revealed that the arrested persons were coordinating with the smugglers in Pakistan and abroad using WhatsApp. Further investigation is ongoing to trace backward and forward linkages of the network, he said.

Sharing operational details, Amritsar Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that the police arrested suspect Balwinder Singh alias Binder with 35 gm ICE from his possession and the latter revealed during interrogation his links with a Pakistan-based trafficker, who shared drop locations through WhatsApp.

Acting on the accused's disclosures, the police recovered 2.042 kg of ICE drug, bringing the total recovery from him to 2.077 kg, he said.

Bhullar said in a parallel operation, the police intercepted suspect Navtej Singh with 40 gm of ICE drug.

Further investigation revealed that the latter had previously worked in Doha, Qatar, where he connected with a handler there, he said, adding that this handler later shifted operations to India through WhatsApp-based instructions.

Probe revealed that Navtej had worked as a ground courier, retrieving drug packets and supplying them further. Based on his disclosures, the police recovered an additional 1.966 kg of ICE drug, bringing the total recovered to 2.006 kg.

The police commissioner said in a third interception, the police arrested Mahabir Singh with 1.032 kg of heroin from his possession. Investigations uncovered that the latter was receiving consignments from a Pakistan-based smuggler using drone drops, indicating an advanced method of cross-border narcotics transport. PTI CHS KSS KSS