I’ntl drug racket busted in Delhi, 2 Punjabis arrested

SUKHJEEVAN AND SWARN, BOTH RESIDENTS OF PUNJAB WERE ARRESTED FROM A FLYOVER IN JANAKPURI AREA ON TUESDAY WITH 1.5KG HEROIN

NEWDELHI: An international drug smuggling racket has been busted with the arrest of three persons, including a Nigerian national and two Punjabis, here and 2.1-kg heroin worth ₹10 crore has been recovered from them, police said on Saturday.

Deputy commissioner of police Sanjeev Kumar Yadav identified the accused as Sukhjeevan Singh, 30, Swarn Singh, 33, both residents of Punjab, and Chukwuma Celestine, 32, from Nigeria.

The police official said Celestine was out on bail in a drugsmuggling case and his original passport was with the court.

Yadav said Sukhjeevan and S warn, who were travelling in an auto-rickshaw, were arrested from a flyover in Janakpuri area on Tuesday and 1.5-kg heroin was recovered from their possession.

“Swarn Singh jumped off the flyover with the bag containing heroin as we were to arrest him. He sustained injuries and is admitted to the trauma centre of All India Institute of Medical Sciences,” the DCP said.

The interrogation of the two led to the arrest of Celestine, who supplied them drugs, on Friday evening from Dadri, said the official.

Police recovered 650 grams of heroin and 985 grams of met ham- phetamine from his possession.

Celestine, who was carrying two fake passports, had contacts in Afghanistan from where drugs were smuggled to India via courier service and through people who swallowed heroin-filled capsules.

Police said Celestine confessed that he used to send consignments of heroin to England, France, Italy, Canada, South Africa and Nigeria via courier service.

Yadav said Celestine was also arrested earlier for sending drugs through courier service.

The DCP said they had information that peddlers from Punjab were procuring drugs from African nationals in Delhi and the arrest followed a threemonth investigation.

The officer said that in the past six months, 75kg of drugs had been seized by Delhi Police. “We are investigating to arrest rest of the accused connected to the gang,” Yadav said. IANS