Major heroin smuggling bid foiled by Punjab Police, drugs worth Rs 200 crores seized along Indo-Pak border

Major drug smuggling bid by Pakistan-based smugglers foiled by Punjab Police with specific inputs provided by the intelligence wing.

New Delhi: The Amritsar Rural Police on Saturday (August 21, 2021) morning foiled a major drug smuggling bid by Pakistan-based smugglers in an operation led by the intelligence wing and based on specific inputs. As many as 39 packets of heroin, weighing 40.81 kg was recovered in the Panjgraian Border Outpost (BOP) area of Amritsar estimated to be worth around Rs 200 crores in the international market.

Joint teams of Punjab Police and BSF successfully seized the huge cache of drugs besides recovering 180 grams of opium and two plastic pipes (manufactured by Super Punjab Pump, Made in Pakistan). The police have also impounded a motorcycle and a Scooty belonging to the smugglers from the smuggling side found stationed at the vicinity.

The operation was supported by the Border Security Force (BSF) as it was carried out in the border area under their control.

Punjab Police had received an input that Nirmal Singh aka Sonu Mayer, a notorious smuggler from Gharinda area, was attempting to smuggle heroin into India through Indo-Pak Border. The information was immediately shared by SSP Amritsar (Rural) Gulneet Singh Khurana and pin-pointed the inputs with BSF. 

Meanwhile, a police team comprising DSP Investigation Gurinderpal Singh and DSP Ajnala Vipan Kumar also reached the spot to work with the BSF to nab the drug smugglers and the contraband was seized.

The Police have launched a massive manhunt to arrest Sonu, who is also wanted by the Tarn Taran Police in case of 1 kg heroin recovery in 2020,” said SSP Gulneet Singh Khurana. Further, he said that investigations were underway and all accused persons were likely to be arrested soon.

An FIR no 103 dated August 21, 2021 under sections 21, 61, 85 of the NDPS Act, section 14 of the Foreigners Act and sections 3, 34, 20 Indian Passport Act has been registered at Police Station Ramdas, Amritsar, he informed.

Sharing the modus operandi, SSP Khurana said that the smugglers used Pakistan-made plastic pipes to get the heroin across the border fence in the shape of neatly tied packets of heroin contraband.