International drug cartel busted, 60 kg heroin seized from Barmer

Chandigarh, June 30 In a major crackdown on drug trafficking, Amritsar Commissionerate Police, with the support of Border Security Force (BSF) and Rajasthan Police, has busted a major international drug cartel being operated by Pakistan-based smuggler Tanveer Shah and Canada-based handler Joban Kaler, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Monday.

A huge consignment of 60.302 kg of heroin was recovered from near the International Border in Barmer in Rajasthan. The operation has led to the arrest of at least nine people, including smugglers, traffickers and hawala operators from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir, said the DGP.

Those arrested have been identified as Gagandeep Singh (23), Jashanpreet Singh (20), Gursahib Singh (25), Rajeev Panjgotra (29), Somnath (62), Prashotam Singh (50), Kulwinder Singh (24), Rajinder Kaur (42) and one hawala operator.

DGP Yadav said preliminary investigations have revealed the drug cartel was being operated by Pakistan-based smuggler Tanveer Shah and Canada-based smuggler Joban Kaler with the help of local kingpin Gursahib Singh, who was already lodged in Goindwal Sahib Jail, from where he was running the network. His phone has been recovered by jail authorities, and his production warrant was obtained for a probe into Canada-Pakistan linkages, the DGP said.

Sharing more details, Commissioner of Police (Amritsar) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said the operation began after Gursahib Singh was arrested last month with one kg of heroin from Chheharta. Despite being in jail, accused Gursahib operated through his nephew Jashanpreet Singh and associate Gagandeep Singh, who were arrested with 102 gm heroin. Their interrogation led to the huge 60 kg heroin consignment in Barmer, he said.

He said during the investigation, the hawala network used for routing drug money has also been exposed with the arrest of a hawala operator. The Commissioner of Police said the probe has also revealed that drugs were being smuggled from across the Indo-Pak border and routed through Rajasthan to Punjab, with further local distribution channels. Further working on backward linkages, five more accused associated with Tanveer Shah of Pakistan were also identified, and raids are being conducted to nab them, he said.

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