Two cross-border smugglers held in Amritsar, 10-kg heroin, drone seized

PK Jaiswar

Amritsar, December 25

The Punjab Police today nabbed two cross-border smugglers allegedly involved in the supply of drugs to Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, besides different parts of Punjab.

They have confiscated 10 kg of heroin and a US-made drone from their possession.

Those arrested were identified as Dalbir Singh and Jagdish Singh, both residents of Gharinda.

DGP Gaurav Yadav on Sunday said that the duo had been trafficking drugs across the border for the past three years but no case had been registered against them.

“The US-made sophisticated drone seized from the two smugglers is a DJI-series drone, worth Rs 20 lakh, having hi-tech features including long-lasting battery back-up and infrared-based night vision camera,” the DGP said.

Amritsar (Rural) police SSP Swapan Sharma said both the smugglers had a well-oiled distribution network in the neighbouring states including Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

“We have identified their associates in these states and currently, raids are being carried out at 12 different locations,” he said.

He said the duo had been evading arrest by altering their modus operandi regularly to carry out smuggling of contraband.

A case has been registered under Sections 21 and 23 of the NDPS Act at Gharinda police station here.

The DGP added that this was the fifth drone seized by the police in less than a month in Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts.

Some of these carried heroin worth crores of rupees in the international market.

5 drones seized in a month

• November 29: A hexacopter carrying heroin, weighing 6.68 kg, was seized near Harbhajan BOP, Tarn Taran
• November 30: A broken quadcopter was seized from area under Van Tara Singh village in Khalra, Tarn Taran
• December 2: A hexacopter carrying heroin, weighing 5.6 kg, was seized from Khemkaran area in Tarn Taran
• December 4: A quadcopter loaded with heroin, weighing 3.06 kg, was seized from area of Kalia BOP, Tarn Taran
• December 25: A DJI series US-made drone, worth Rs 20 lakh, seized along with 10-kg heroin by the Amritsar Rural Police