CHANDIGARH, Jan 6: In a major crackdown on cross-border smuggling, Punjab Police’s Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) on Tuesday apprehended four people, including a key operative and a minor, with nearly 20 kg of heroin in Amritsar, officials said.
Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said preliminary investigation reveals that the key operative is linked to Pakistan-based handlers and was coordinating the delivery and distribution of drug consignments across the region.
“An FIR has been registered under the NDPS Act and the investigation is underway to identify cross-border handlers, trace supply routes and dismantle the entire network,” Yadav said in a post on X.
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Those apprehended are residents of Amritsar and include a 17-year-old.
Police teams also impounded a car and two motorcycles of the accused, an official statement said.
Sharing operational details, Superintendent of Police, ANTF Border Range, Gurpreet Singh said reliable information was received that the accused had gone towards the border area to retrieve a heroin consignment smuggled via a drone.
Acting swiftly on the input, a joint team of the ANTF and the Border Security Force (BSF) laid a ‘naka’ at a strategic location and successfully intercepted all four accused, along with the car used in the crime, he said.
Based on the disclosures of the arrested accused, Singh said, a joint search operation was conducted at Ghogga border outpost under the Bhindi Saidan police station area.
During the search, five packets containing 19.980 kg of heroin were recovered from agricultural fields near Bhindi Aulakh village, he said.
An FIR has been registered and further investigation is underway, police said. (PTI)
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