7 arrested by narcotics bureau amidst Himachal election, international drug syndicate busted

Mohali (Punjab) [India], November 18 : Seven persons were arrested and a total of 13.976 Kg of Charas were seized by the Chandigarh Zonal Unit of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB CZU) during the special drive launched against the inter-state drug syndicates during the recent Himachal Pradesh Assembly Election, the NCB said.
The polling for the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections was conducted peacefully. The Chandigarh unit of the Narcotics Control Bureau in a press release informed about the special drive against inter-state drug syndicates, during the Himachal Pradesh Assembly Election 2022.
During the course of the drive, three inter-state gangs were busted by NCB CZU having inter-state linkages.
Briefing about the seizures and arrests, the NCB CZU informed that NCB Chandigarh Unit seized 4.424 Kg of Charas and arrested 2 persons on October 20.
Meanwhile, the NCB Chandigarh Unit seized 8.604 Kg of Charas and arrested 3 persons in connection with the case on November 5. And, on November 14, NCB Chandigarh Unit seized 0.948 Kg of Charas in Himachal Pradesh and arrested two people.
All these arrests and seizures have been made in the state of Himachal Pradesh and Further investigation is underway in all these cases, the NCB said.
The statement stated that during the raids, seizures worth Rs 5,86,950 in Indian currency, and the currency of UAE worth 2850/- dirham were made.
The release further informed that NCB Chandigarh Unit has also seized 2 live bullets, 1 cash counting machine, 250 grams of silver coin, 20 branded watches, 2 laptops, 5 pen drives, 7 sim cards, 5 mobile phones, financial documents, 17 grams of opium and a small quantity of heroin during the course o busting the international heroin syndicate.
The press release, undersigned by the Deputy Director General of the Northern Region of Narcotics Control Bureau Gyaneshwar Singh.
Meanwhile, yesterday at the Chandigarh NCB Office, the Deputy Director General of the Northern Region Gyaneshwar Singh held a press conference. Speaking about the drive that continued after the Himachal election concluded, he informed that on November 15, the NCB CZU busted an international heroin syndicate having a hub in the Ludhiana district of Punjab. NCB seized 20.326 Kg of suspect heroin and arrested 1 person in the case.
Gyaneshwar Singh in his statement further said that it has come to light that in Punjab, the gangsters have also joined the drug mafia, having links in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Singh further said that it is going to be a big challenge in the becoming days to nab them, which NCB will deal with.
Gyaneshwar Singh clearly stated, "NCB is an expert in dealing with such cases and the gangsters of Punjab are under our surveillance". He further said that the person arrested during the crackdown has informed the NCB that drug supply is going on in Himachal and others places. He said that we are expecting more arrests and recoveries in the coming days.
Notably, as per a notification by the Election Commission of India (ECI), "Record seizures" have been made during the now-concluded Himachal election and upcoming Assembly elections in Gujarat.