In a major breakthrough amidst the ongoing drive to make Punjab a drug-free state, Amritsar Commissionerate Police has busted an international drug cartel with the arrest of two accused persons and recovered 10 Kg ICE (Methamphetamine) and 4 Kg Heroin from their possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Wednesday.
Those arrested have been identified as Mohit alias Bachi (19), a resident of village Pavaar in Jalandhar and Arshdeep Singh alias Arsh alias Harman (23), a resident of Kot Khalsa in Amritsar. DGP Gaurav Yadav said that preliminary investigation has revealed that the arrested accused were in contact with a Dubai-based drug smuggler operating from Abu Dhabi/Dubai and were acting under his directions to traffic narcotics in Punjab and Delhi.
The DGP said that arrested accused Mohit has recently returned from Dubai, where he was allegedly trained and tasked with transporting consignments of heroin and ICE. The accused were further supplying the narcotics across the Majha and Doaba regions, he said.
Sharing operational details, Commissioner of Police (CP) Amritsar Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that acting on specific intelligence inputs and in a well-planned operation, police teams apprehended both, Mohit alias Bachi and Arshdeep Singh alias Arsh, when they were riding a motorcycle. During their search, police teams recovered 10 Kg ICE (Methamphetamine) and 4 Kg Heroin from their possession, he said.
The CP said that during interrogation, Dubai-returned accused Mohit revealed that the Dubai-based smuggler was targeting young labour-class individuals and used to motivate them to participate in drug trafficking activities. Probe has also revealed that accused Arshdeep alias Arsh, who was already involved in drug trafficking activities, was in direct contact with the Dubai-based smuggler and was storing heroin consignments sent through unknown persons, which were later handed over to Mohit for further delivery, he added.
Pertinently, in February this year as well, two associates of the same Dubai-based smuggler, identified as Sahibpreet Singh alias Sahib and Gagandeep Singh alias Gagan, were arrested with 7.6 kg heroin and Rs 21000 drug money. Moreover, the mother and sister of the Dubai-based smuggler are presently lodged in Central Jail Amritsar in connection with FIR registered under NDPS Act at Police Station Raja Sansi involving recovery of 42 Kg heroin.
The CP said that further investigation is underway to establish backward and forward linkages in this case to identify other members of the network, and ascertain additional recoveries. In this regard, a case FIR No. 107 dated 18-05-2026 under sections 21-C and 29 of the NDPS Act has been registered at Police Station Chheharta in Amritsar.