20 arrested as Punjab Police bust drug cartel spanning 50 districts in 11 states
CHANDIGARH :In one of the biggest crackdowns on the supply of pharmaceutical opioids across the country, Punjab Police has busted an inter-state drug cartel operating in more than 50 districts of the country spread across 11 states, using the hawala channel route.
Twenty people have already been arrested with a cache of drugs, drug money and five vehicles, in an operation that spanned over eight weeks.
Punjab director general of police Dinkar Gupta said the drug cartel, known as the Agra Gang, was pushing pharmaceutical opioids (drugs) into markets across India by diverting drugs in huge quantities from the drug manufacturers, suppliers, wholesalers and retail chemists spread out across the country.
BARNALA POLICE BUSTED SYNDICATE
With the arrest of these gang members, a well-oiled network of drug syndicate pushing consignments to the tune of 10-12 crore of intoxicating pharmaceutical opioids in the form of tablets/capsules/injections/syrups per month into Punjab and other parts of the country has been smashed.
Thousands of youngsters who were or could have got hooked to these drugs have been saved from abuse and addiction. The arrest of the 20 men, including one of the cartel’s kingpins, were made from various locations in Punjab, Haryana, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.
As many as 27,62,137 intoxicating tablets, capsules, injections and syrup bottles were seized from them, along with drug proceeds money of ₹70 lakh, said Gupta.
The Barnala police had in March similarly busted a Mathura Gang and seized 44 lakh intoxicants and Rs 1.5 crore drug money in the biggest-ever such haul by Punjab Police.
The case began to unravel in May with the arrest of Balwinder Singh, alias Nikka, and four others along with 2.85 lakh intoxicating tablets (Tab Clovidol) during investigation into an NDPS case registered at Mehal Kalan police station. This led to the arrest of Julfikar Ali with 12,000 intoxicating tablets (Tab Clovidol). Julfikar’s questioning revealed the role of Harish as one of the masterminds in the supply of pharmaceutical opioids into Punjab.
Followingthesearrests, aspecial team was sent to West Bengal from where Harish was arrested. It was Harish who disclosed the working of the gang and its chain of supply of psychotropic drugs not only in Punjab but in over 11 states of the country.
OF THE 20 PEOPLE ARRESTED SO FAR, 16 ARE FROM PUNJAB, TWO FROM UTTAR PRADESH AND ONE EACH FROM HARYANA AND DELHI
KINGPIN POSED AS MEDICAL REPRESENTATIVE
The DGP said Harish posed as a medical representative to establish contact with chemists and pharmacists by using address and phone numbers that he easily found over internet and social media.
The contraband smugglers used a pre-identified network of couriers /transport /goods carriers, operating from cities such as Delhi, Agra, Amritsar, Jaipur, Gwalior and Bhopal.