The arrested drug smuggler has been identified as Rahul of Naraingarh in Amritsar whose car was also seized.
Published Oct 24, 2023 | 12:11 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 24, 2023 | 12:32 PM
The drug packets seized by Punjab police. (Supplied)
In a big blow to the trans-border narcotic network, Punjab Police busted a cross-border drug smuggling racket which was being controlled by USA-based smuggler Sarwan Singh.
The police arrested one person after recovering 12 kg of heroin from his possession on Sunday, 22 October. The arrested drug smuggler has been identified as Rahul of Naraingarh from Amritsar. Apart from seizing heroin, police teams impounded his Honda Amaze car, in which he was travelling.
DGP Gaurav Yadav said that following intel inputs that associates of Sarwan Singh had retrieved the heroin consignment dropped via drone and were going to deliver it, the State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) Amritsar conducted special police checking in the city area of Amritsar and arrested the accused Rahul after recovering 12 packets of heroin, weighing 1 kg each, from his car.
“The accused person was directly in touch with US-based smuggler Sarwan Singh and was supplying heroin across the state after importing it from Pakistan,” said the DGP.
Sharing more details, AIG SSOC Amritsar Sukhminder Singh Mann said that further investigations were being conducted to probe the backward and forward linkages and unearth the whole network of drug suppliers, dealers and their buyers.
Efforts were being made to ascertain the total amount of narcotics procured by the arrested accused to date, he added.
A case with FIR no. 44 dated 22 October, 2023 has been registered under sections 21, 25 and 29 of the NDPS Act at Police SSOC Amritsar.
Sarwan Singh, carrying ₹2 lakh reward on his arrest, is the brother of infamous drug smuggler Ranjeet alias Cheeta and is wanted in a 532-kg Heroin haul case, in which the latter was arrested in May 2020.
Ranjit Cheeta was the mastermind behind the smuggling of 532 packets of heroin which were seized by the customs department at Integrated Check Post (ICP) Attari in July 2019 and is being investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
