Drug syndicate busted, mastermind among the 10 people arrested by the ANTF

The arrested were identified as Chandan Sharma, Akash Sharma, Vishal Singh, Arvinder Singh, Lovepreet Singh, Rinku Thapar, Bharat, Divyam, Pratham and Ankush Bhatti, police officials said

“The police also seized 1 kg of heroin, 381 grams of charas, three pistols, including a sophisticated Glock pistol, 62 cartridges and two empty cartridge cases. ₹487,000 dollars in drug money, 262 grams of gold and electronic devices from their possession,” Yadav said.

The DGP said that the accused ran the drug network and were active in Jalandhar, Amritsar and Ludhiana.

“Investigations revealed that after smuggling drugs across the border, the accused sent money to drug smugglers based in Pakistan through the hawala route,” the DGP added.

He said the investigation would use technological surveillance and human intelligence to dismantle complex criminal networks.

“Further investigations are underway to establish connections in this case,” the DGP added, adding that further arrests are expected.

ANTF Special Director General Kuldeep Singh said preliminary investigations have revealed that the arrested accused Lovepreet Singh, a resident of Amritsar, was the key person behind the entire drug network of this syndicate and was using his extensive network of contacts to smuggle drugs and arms across the state.

Police teams also discovered a hidden cupboard in the house of accused Lovepreet where he hid all the smuggled drugs and hawala money and also used it as a safe house for himself, Kuldeep Singh added.

A case under Section 20 and 21 (C) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and Section 25 of the Arms Act was registered at ANTF police station in Mohali.