Cop among 3 held by NCB for using courier services to send drugs abroad

Mahesh Sharma

Raikot, April 21

Gangs exploiting international courier services for smuggling drugs and narcotics under guise of sending gifts to Indians settled abroad have started spreading their tentacles in this part of Malwa.

Under guise of culture

Sending sports goods on the pretext of promotion of traditional rural sports of Punjab, eatables during festival seasons and sending garments to friends and relatives on their special days were identified as the most prevalent modes used by these traffickers in sending narcotics abroad

Sending sports goods on the pretext of promotion of traditional rural sports of Punjab, eatables during festivals and sending garments to friends and relatives on their special days were identified as the most prevalent avenues in their sinister designs of trafficking drugs internationally.

In a recent case, a joint team of Narcotics Control Bureau, New Delhi and Chandigarh, arrested three persons from Latala and Nangal Kalan villages of Ludhiana district for their alleged involvement in smuggling narcotics under the guise of sending sports goods to organisers of a hockey tournament in Canada through a courier service at Raikot. The customs authorities at the Indira Gandhi International Airport had impounded the parcel containing 400g of opium concealed in the sports goods and handed over the case to the NCB.

On the basis of identity proofs of the sender of the parcel and CCTV footage from the courier company, a team of NCB sleuths arrested three men — Gobind Singh of Latala village, a head constable posted at Raikot police station, and Nangal Kalan village residents Naseeb Singh and Gurcharan Singh. The NCB took them on remand after presenting them in a court in Ludhiana. The main accused, a resident of Rattowal village, on whose instance the suspects had couriered the parcel, is yet to be arrested.

Though the Ludhiana (Rural) police have not yet disclosed any information on the issue, a perusal of records at Raikot police station revealed that Gobind Singh, who had been posted here for over six months, had been arrested by the NCB sleuths. As the high-profile case is being probed by a Central agency, the Raikot police declined to comment on the details of the case.

The Tribune’s research further revealed the Sahnewal police had earlier foiled an attempt by Gurjot Singh of Sunam and Sarabjit Singh of Kapurthala to send two boxes containing 435g and 230g of opium, respectively, through a courier service company at Dhandari Kalan village in the second week of August last year.

In a similar case, the police had booked a resident of Hans Kalan village for allegedly trying to send 200g of opium through a courier company on the basis of fake documents.

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