LAHORE: The Crime Investigation Agency (CIA), Lahore, claims to have busted an international drug trafficking ring allegedly involved in supplying narcotics to youngsters across Punjab and smuggling contraband abroad.

CIA officials, claiming recovery of the “largest-ever quantity of cocaine”, say the arrested ringleader and the gang’s key members have dual nationalities.

Talking to media persons on Wednesday, Lahore CIA DIG Imran Kishwar said the network was “very desperate, dangerous and well-connected”.

He said a CIA team headed by SP Furqan Bilal unearthed “ the biggest drug supply gang in the history of Punjab“ using modern information technology.

Claim recovery of huge cache of narcotics

The suspects had termed the network a “speedy gang”, the DIG said.

Of the arrested suspects, Qamar Muzafar was an Italian national, Amir Cheema alias “Billa Spanish” and Immad Butt alias “Speedy” were UK nationals, while the others were identified as Rizwan Hussain, Malik Waqas and Fahim Razzaq among others.

Mr Kishwar said the gang would get drugs supplied from Italy, Spain, Holland and Belgium and provide the same to youngsters and students of universities, colleges and other educational institutions across Punjab.

He said the gang was also involved in smuggling drugs to Iran, adding that Cheema was wanted by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in four drug trafficking cases.

The DIG said the CIA teams worked extensively on the network’s local handlers for a few months to ensure their arrest as they were not only well-connected but also highly dangerous.

“After having reliable intelligence-based information and making foolproof preparations, the CIA carried out raids on the hideouts of the gang members in posh localities of the provincial capital,” he said.

The police arrested the suspects from Bahria Town, Cantt, Barki and Bedian Road of the Defence Housing Authority (DHA).

He said CIA police recovered 4.5 kilogrammes of cocaine, 25,000 ecstasy pills (10kg) and 7kg heroin from the suspected traffickers, surpassing the previous record of maximum recovery of cocaine in Punjab in one seizure.

The cost of the 1kg cocaine in the drug market was said to be Rs30.5 million, Mr Kishwar said, adding that more revelations were expected as the CIA teams were further expanding the scope of the investigation to round up many other drug suppliers.

Published in Dawn, July 11th, 2024