AMRITSAR: In a major breakthrough, Amritsar Commissionerate Police has busted a cross-border drug smuggling cartel with links to Pakistan-based handlers with the arrest of seven accused persons and recovered 4.075 kg heroin, 1 kg Methamphetamine— commonly known as ICE, and one 9mm Glock pistol from their possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Tuesday.
Those arrested have been identified as Judgebir Singh alias Judge (21) of village Jasraur in Amritsar, Jaspal Singh alias Jass (22) of Ajnala in Amritsar, Anmolpreet Singh (19) of village Lopa in Gurdaspur, Harpinder Singh alias Bhinda (32) of village Sandalpur in Gurdaspur, Tarunpreet Singh (20) of village Sandalpur in Gurdaspur, Dawinder Singh alias Bau (33) of village Bua Nangli in Amritsar and Mandeep Singh (24) of village Bua Nangli in Amritsar.
DGP Gaurav Yadav said that preliminary investigation has revealed that the contraband was smuggled from Pakistan and distributed across the state through local modules guided via social media. Further investigation is underway to trace forward and backward linkages in this case, he said.
Sharing operational details, Commissioner of Police (CP) Amritsar Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that acting on specific and credible intelligence inputs, police teams first apprehended Judgebir Singh alias Judge and recovered 225 grams of heroin from his possession. Sustained interrogation and technical analysis of digital communication led investigators further up the supply chain, resulting in the arrest of his associate Jaspal Singh alias Jass, from whom 1.6 kg heroin was recovered.
Continuing the operation and acting on successive disclosures, police teams further apprehended Anmolpreet Singh, Harpinder Singh alias Bhinda and Tarunpreet Singh, leading to the recovery of an additional 2.2 kg heroin from their possession, he said, while adding that probe has revealed that these accused were acting as couriers and distributors, operating on the explicit instructions of Pakistan-based handlers who coordinated narcotic drops and circulation across districts.
During the same sustained operation, the CP said that another arm of the network was exposed when police, during routine patrolling, apprehended Dawinder alias Bau and Mandeep Singh along with a 9MM Glock pistol and a motorcycle. Intensive interrogation of the accused led to the recovery of 1 kg ICE from their possession, he said.