Ahead of Holi, drug peddling increases; 2 held

After a brief lull in the supply of heroin in Punjab due to the Assembly elections, the drug traffickers have become active again, as African peddlers in coordination with locals in Punjab, have started the supply of the drug in the state during the festival of Holi.

The African-Punjab drug link is the first such case that was uncovered by the Special Cell unit of Delhi Police, as two drug traffickers from Punjab — Gurnaam Singh and Dilbagh Singh — were arrested from Singhu border area after a high-speed chase on Wednesday.

The police have recovered two kilograms of high quality heroin with an international value of Rs 8 crore. Rs 20 lakh in the new currency notes, suspected to be proceed from drug money along with an i-20 car used by the accused have also been confiscated. According to Deputy Commissioner of Police, (Special Cell), Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, the Northern Range of Special Cell unit had developed the information on the drug modules operating from Punjab and Delhi.

The investigators found that the Golden Crescent, a trafficking route stretching from Afghanistan, Pakistan and India was being used by African peddlers to smuggle large consignments of drugs in India. However, after the clampdown on the drug mafia by the border patrol forces and the local police, the drug supply in Punjab had run dry.

After three months of studying the module, the investigators found that the African peddlers, who do not venture out into Punjab, had started to supply the drug from Delhi to Punjab. "Usually, heroin from Pakistan comes into Punjab through the porous borders. The African cartels have always stayed away from Punjab since they do not have a sizeable African population and are easily spotted," said a Special Cell source.

But to reinitiate the drug supply, Gurnaam Singh and Dilbagh Singh had started buying large consignments of heroin, as the festival of Holi was around the corner, and they had anticipated that the demand of heroin would shoot up.

"The accused had bought four consignments of the drug in the last one month. They had coordinated with the Dwarka-based African gang to buy another consignment. In fact, the two accused had Rs 20 lakh to spare in drug money and since they were unable to buy any more consignments, they were going back to Punjab with the money," said Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, DCP, Special Cell.

But their movements were being tracked by the Northern Range of Special Cell unit led by Inspector Attar Singh under the supervision of ACP Pankaj Sood.

They found that the accused would exchange the drug at Amrahi Village extension. After the exchange took place, the police tailed the accused, who grew suspicious and tried to flee from the spot. After a high-speed chase, the accused were arrested from Singhu border area.

During the interrogation, Dilbagh had revealed that he was introduced to the African gang by his father, who is currently lodged in Tihar Jail for similar charges of drug trafficking. Earlier, Gurnaam Singh was arrested in a case of NDPS Act in Punjab.