Punjab: Drug smuggler held along with 8 kgs of heroin in Jalandhar
Aug 17, 2023
Chandigarh/Jalandhar (Punjab) [India], August 17 : Jalandhar police on Thursday said it arrested a drug smuggler after recovering 8 kilograms of heroin from his possession near Dhuleta village in Punjab's Jalandhar district, a senior police official said.
The accused has been identified, as per police, as Joga Singh, a resident of village Rajapur in Ludhiana.
Director General of Police (DGP), Punjab, Gaurav Yadav said, "Joga is an international drug smuggler, who swam into the Pakistan jurisdiction to retrieve the heroin consignment smuggled from trans-border networks from Pakistan".
The official added that the accused was wanted in multiple cases of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, and his two accomplices have already been arrested by the State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) Amritsar after recovering 14kg of heroin from their possession.
Acting on a tip-off, SSP Jalandhar, Rural Mukhwinder Singh Bhullar said a police team from Goraya police station conducted a special naka near Dhuleta village.
The accused was arrested when he was travelling on his Platina motorbike to deliver a consignment of heroin. "During the search, 8 kilograms of heroin, concealed in a bag, were recovered from his possession," the SSP said.
Following his arrest, a fresh case has been registered against the accused under sections 21 and 25 of the NDPS Act at the Goraya police station.
"Further investigations are on to arrest more criminals involved in the drug cartel," the official said.
The official said that with the recovery of 8 kgs of heroin from accused Joga, the total recovery of heroin reached 22 kgs.
The SSOC Amritsar had busted a cross-border drug smuggling racket with the arrest of a drug smuggler identified as Shinder Singh after recovering a consignment of 10kg heroin and Rs 1.5 lakhs of drug money from his possession, while, a woman drug smuggler identified as Amandeep Kaur alias Deep Bhai linked to this module was also arrested with 1kg heroin.
DGP Yadav said that there were reliable inputs that Shinder Singh and his accomplices had procured a big consignment of heroin pushed into the Indian territory by the Pakistan-based smugglers and agencies using the riverine route in the Ferozepur sector. Recovery of this consignment of heroin is the result of vigorous follow-up investigations by the Punjab Police, he added.
