Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], April 13 : Punjab Police arrested 4 drug smugglers and recovered 35 packets of heroin, weighing 36.9 kilograms, from their possession in Lalo Wali village area near Fazilka, officials said on Wednesday.
The accused have been identified as Manpreet Singh, Jaspal Singh alias Gopi, Sukhdev Singh and Dyalvinder Singh, all residents of District Tarn Taran.
Police also seized two cars which were used to smuggle the drug consignment from Rajasthan, said Police.
"Following reliable inputs about the influx of large quantities of heroin from Rajasthan to Punjab, Police teams from Fazilka district carried out the operation at the Fazilka-Ferozepur road near the canal bridge in the area of village Lalo Wali, where these four persons waiting for someone sitting in their cars. After seeing the police party, the accused persons tried to flee from the spot, but, Police teams managed to catch them," Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav said.
"During checking, Police teams have recovered 23 packets of heroin, weighing 24.295 Kg, kept concealed inside cardboard enclosure of car windows," DGP said while adding that another chunk of 12 packets of heroin, weighing 12.620 Kilogram, was recovered from pinpointed location disclosed by the arrested drug smugglers.
"As per preliminary investigations, the accused persons were coming from Rajasthan after retrieving the heroin consignment dropped from across the border using a drone", Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Ferozepur Range Ranjit Singh Dhillon said.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Avneet Kaur Sidhu said that further investigations are needed to find out more people involved in this module and the Punjab-based receiver of the consignment. More arrests are expected in the coming days, she said.
An FIR has been registered under sections 21(C), 23, and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) at Police Station Sadar Fazilka. Police were further looking into the case.
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