Pak national held with 10 Kg heroin in Tarn Taran district
The 22-year-old is suspected to have crossed into the Indian territory multiple times to deliver narcotics consignments and return undetected
In a joint operation, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and the Border Security Force (BSF) have arrested a Pakistani drug smuggler and recovered 10 Kg of contraband smuggled on Monday. The seizure was made in the Khemkaran sector along the Indo-Pak border in Tarn Taran district.
The accused allegedly crossed the barbed wire fencing and entered the Indian territory. Authorities are investigating how he managed to breach the border security.
This is perhaps for the first time that a Pakistani smuggler was nabbed alive with the contraband.
Following the arrest, joint teams of the NCB and the BSF launched a search operation near the fencing area. The accused has been identified as Abu Bakar (22), a resident of Chatwali village in Kasur district of Pakistan.
A senior NCB official requesting anonymity confirmed his arrest and added that a mobile phone and some Pakistani currency was also recovered from his possession. Preliminary examination of the mobile phone has reportedly revealed several crucial leads. Investigators found certain contact numbers reportedly of some Indian drug and weapon smugglers apart from some deleted contact numbers, raising suspicion that they may belong to Indian smugglers, criminals or gangsters.
An NCB official said that Abu Bakar's links with Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and the banned terror outfit Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) is being looked into. The agency is now probing his local links in Punjab. Officials are also examining whether the accused had plans to facilitate further narcotics or arms smuggling operations.
Sources revealed that Bakar had been active in the border belt for the past six months. He is suspected of having crossed into the Indian territory multiple times to deliver narcotics consignments and returning undetected. The NCB is investigating the specific routes used by the accused, including possible entry points in the Khemkaran sector.
Further investigation is underway to uncover the entire network and identify other individuals involved in the cross-border drug and terror nexus.
