DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

The Punjab Police on Monday said it arrested a drug smuggler linked to syndicates based in Pakistan and the US and seized 15 kilogrammes of heroin from him. The arrested accused has been identified as Harshpreet Singh, a resident of Roranwala in Amritsar, said Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav.

Apart from seizing the heroin, police teams from Tarn Taran also impounded a two-wheeler being used to smuggle the drugs.

The development came a day after the Tarn Taran Police dismantled a drug trafficking cartel with the arrest of two smugglers and seized six kilogrammes of heroin, according to an official statement.

Yadav said preliminary investigations revealed that the consignment was linked to a network operated by US-based Gurnam Kallowal, linked to a Pakistan-based smuggler identified as Pahalwan.

The police chief added that Pahalwan used drones to drop drugs consignments from across the border.

A probe has also revealed that Singh was retrieving the consignments to further deliver them to local peddlers and sending the proceeds through hawala channels on the instructions of his US-based handler Kallowal, he added.

Further investigations are underway to establish backward and forward linkages.

Sharing details of the operation, Senior Superintendent of Police (Tarn Taran) said police teams launched an intelligence-based operation, acting on reliable inputs about Singh's activities, and arrested him from the district's Rakh Sarai Amanat Khan when he was on his way to deliver a consignment.

Efforts are underway to uncover the entire network of suppliers, dealers and buyers, as well as ascertain the total quantity of drugs received by the accused. More arrests and recoveries are likely in the coming days, he added.

A case has been registered under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act at Tarn Taran Sadar police sation. / PTI /

(editor@dailyworld.in)