Ludhiana: International drug syndicate busted

New Delhi: In a major crackdown on the international drug syndicates in Punjab, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) busted recently the entire chain of an international drug syndicate operating from Ludhiana including two clandestine labs where the processing of heroin was done by Afghan Nationals. The NCB officials also informed on Monday that the network busted had common linkages to Shaheen Bagh and Muzaffarnagar cases booked by NCB in April 2022.

“On November 15, last year, NCB’s Chandigarh zonal unit busted an international heroin syndicate having a hub in the Ludhiana district of Punjab and seized 20.326 kgs of Heroin from the conscious possession of Sandeep Singh, a resident of Ludhiana,” an official statement added.

This operation was fuelled by inter-agency cooperation and various central agencies including various Zones of NCB and Counter Intelligence Punjab police played a crucial role in this operation. Further in this operation NIDAAN (National Integrated Database on Arrested Narco Offenders) and ICJS (Inter-operable Criminal Justice System) were extensively used to trace the accused of this international drug syndicate.

Specialized financial investigation and technical investigation teams have also been formed in this case. More than 60 bank accounts relating to this group have been under debit freeze and freezing orders under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 are under consideration.