Punjab: 5 held as international drug syndicate busted, Rs 78 lakh seized

The Chandigarh Police Saturday said they have busted an international drug syndicate with the arrest of five alleged smugglers and recovered Rs 78 lakh cash and 200 grams of heroin from their possession. The hub of the drug syndicate was in Punjab's Ferozepur and was getting supplies from across the border, police said. The anti-narcotics task force of the police first arrested Chandigarh resident Shubham Jain on July 27 with 108 grams of amphetamine (Ice) and 70 grams of heroin.

Following his questioning, police nabbed Puneet Kumar, a resident of Ferozepur, and recovered a country-made pistol and five cartridges from him on July 29. During the investigation, police further arrested Pawanpreet Singh, Ravinderpal Singh and Chandan, they said, adding that Rs 78.38 lakh cash and 107 grams of heroin were recovered from Chandan.

Jagjeet alias Jagga was brought on a production warrant from Ferozepur jail and was named in this case. He was operating his network from jail and was in contact with Pakistan-based smugglers, police said.

During the investigation, police found that the kingpin of this syndicate was Simran Singh, a native of Ferozepur, who is presently living in Melbourne in Australia. He is operating his network from abroad, they said.

He was in contact with a Pakistan-based smuggler Arif Dogar and used the border area for smuggling heroin through drones and plastic bottles left in river water and collected with the help of his accomplice in India, police said.

Further investigation was underway, they said.