AMRITSAR: In one of the largest ever heroin seizures in the state amidst the ongoing war against drugs, Punjab Police has busted a cross-border smuggling racket after arresting two associates of Turkey-based drug smuggler Navpreet Singh alias Nav Bhullar and recovered 105kg heroin and six weapons— including five foreign made pistols and one country made pistol— from their possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Sunday.
Those arrested have been identified as Navjot Singh, a resident of Guru Tegh Bahadur Colony in Baba Bakala, Amritsar and Lovepreet Kumar, a resident of Kala Sanghian in Kapurthala.
DGP Gaurav Yadav said that apart from recovering big haul of heroin, the police teams have also recovered huge quantity of scheduled drugs, including 31.93 Kg Caffeine Anhydrous and 17 Kg dextromethorphan (DMR), from their possession. “Investigations revealed that the accused persons were using these scheduled drugs as multiplying agent to increase the heroin quantity by four times, ” he said.
Sharing operation details, DGP Gaurav Yadav said that the team of Counter Intelligence (CI) Amritsar received an intel-input that a foreign-based smuggler Navpreet Singh alias Nav Bhullar has been operating a Pak-backed cross-border smuggling racket using his associates camped at rented accommodation at Colony Lady Road in Baba Bakala.
Acting swiftly, an intelligence-led operation was launched and a special checkpoint was established under the supervision of DSP CI Amritsar Balbir Singh in the area of Baba Bakala, leading to the arrest of accused persons Navjot Singh and Lovepreet Kumar and recovery of 7Kg Heroin from their Volkswagen Virtus car (PB02-DY-3031), in which they were travelling, he said, while adding that the police teams have also impounded the car.
The DGP said that on the basis of disclosure statements of the arrested accused persons, police teams have recovered remaining 98kg heroin along with weapons, Caffeine Anhydrous and DMR from their rented premises. Route of smuggling the narcotic consignment is being investigated, he said.
Further investigations are on to establish backward and forward linkages in this case and police teams are on manhunt to arrest more criminals involved in the drug cartel.
In this regard, a case FIR No. 62 dated 26.10.2024 has been registered under section 21, 25 and 29 of the NDPS Act and section 25 of the Arms Act at Police Station State Special Operations Cell (SSOC), Amritsar.