RAWALPINDI: A six-member gang allegedly involved in trafficking drugs was busted after two of its attempts to smuggle narcotics were foiled at the Islamabad International Airport (IIA).

The Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) rounded up a serving Airport Security Force (ASF) official and a former employee on the charge of facilitating the suspects, an ANF spokesman said.

He said 3.4kg of heroin was seized at the entrance of the airport. When the security staff stopped a car for search, 13,030 pills of heroin weighing about 3.4kg were recovered. This led to the arrest of five members of a drug trafficking ring, he said.

A serving official and a former employee of the ASF were among the facilitators.

The ANF said the other suspects planned to smuggle drug tablets to Jeddah on a Saudi Arabian airlines flight. The arrested suspects were shifted to the ANF police station for further investigation.

Meanwhile, the ANF intelligence in a joint operation with the ANF Islamabad foiled an attempt to smuggle 26.84kg heroin through a cargo from the IIA.

The ANF said the seizure was made when the ASF staff intercepted a car at the airport entrance. During search, 25 packets of 1.07kg heroin were recovered.

The ANF arrested Jawad Ali, a resident of Swabi, who it said was the key operative of an international drug trafficking group.

Published in Dawn, January 11th, 2022