Jammu: Police on Tuesday claimed to have busted an inter-state drug syndicate involved in smuggling narcotics from Pakistan through drones with the arrest of four men in Kathua district.
Another case also came to the fore when police arrested five drug peddlers and seized heroin from their possession.
In the first case, among the four arrested, two are employees of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) project, posted in Samba district, the police said.
On July 29, a joint party of police and Border Security Force (BSF) near the International Border in Chhan Tanda village in the Hiranagar sector recovered nearly half a kilogram of drone-dropped opium packets, Senior Superintendent of Police, Kathua, Shobhit Saxena said.
A case under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act was registered at Police Station Hiranagar.
Two people, Sukhwinder Singh and Arshadeep Singh, “who were assigned the task of picking up the drone-dropped consignment”, were arrested, the officer said. They were working on the NHAI project in the Ghagwal-Samba sector.
The questioning of the duo led to the recovery of 411 grams of heroin and the arrest of drug trafficker Feroz Din alias Allu, a resident of the Rajbagh area of Kathua.
“He was in touch with a Pakistan-based drug smuggler,” the SSP said. Further disclosure led to the arrest of the kingpin and main financier from Tarn Taran, Punjab.
“He was also in touch with the same Pak-based smuggler and was responsible for sending the proceeds of narcotics to Pakistan via the Hawala channel. Heroin and cash were recovered from both drug traffickers and the kingpin,” the SSP said.
Saxena said the accused are hardcore criminals and have already supplied more than 30 kg of heroin, which was dropped in Punjab and J&K to drug peddlers in adjoining districts.
“They ran a sophisticated syndicate, taking all precautions, hence had been evading law enforcement till now. Further investigation in the case is ongoing, and more recovery and arrests are expected in the coming days,” he said.
In the second case, police have arrested five drug peddlers from the same district and recovered heroin from them.
Murad Ali and Bagh Hussain were arrested with cash and heroin on Monday. Further investigation led to the arrest of three more accused, along with 20 grams of heroin and some cash, Saxena said.
Highlighting the stringent action of local police, the officer requested residents to come forward and help police in curbing the menace.
