LAHORE: The Cantonment police busted another notorious racket involved in cross border drug smuggling and arrested two police officials red-handed in Barki, a area located hardly a few kilometers from the Pakistan-India border.

The raiding team recovered a huge quantity of high quality heroin (six and a half kg) worth over Rs16 million.

Identified as Tariq and Usman, the cops were employees in Dolphin and Operations wing police.

It was the third organised gang of criminals who were operating drones and smuggling the drugs to India through international border.

Drones being used to smuggle drugs across Pakistan-India border; Rs16m worth of heroin seized

Earlier, a CIA policeman was shot injured during a raid by the law-enforcement agencies in Cantonment area of Lahore a week back following the intelligence reports that he was smuggling drugs across the border through drones.

Lahore Cantonment division SP Awais Shafiq revealed that the two police employees were purchasing drugs from Afghanistan to smuggle the same to India through drones.

He said the police had got a credible information that “some police employees” were doing this illegal business.

He said the policemen were brothers of a station house officer posted in Lahore.

“The suspects purchased per kg heroin at Rs2.5m from the inter-provincial drug dealers who had brought it from Afghanistan”, the SP said.

He lamented that the dealers associated with the network dodged several law-enforcement agencies scattered from international border (Afghanistan) to Punjab to supply the drugs through Lahore.

Under the verbal deal, they used to supply the drugs in Lahore ‘on done basis’ against the price of choice, giving an assurance to the dealers of Lahore that the substance would reach safely.

Mr Shafiq said the policemen arrested in the raid had purchased total 10 kg heroin recently.

Of the purchased drug, they had sent 3/5 kg to India through drones, he said adding that they were using small drones to smuggle the drugs.

As per capacity, the drone used to carry half kg heroin on each turn.

They were all set to smuggle the rest 5/6 kg drug when the team raided and arrested the police employees along with their accomplice Dilawar.

The raiding police seized some drones and 5/6 kg heroin.

The SP further revealed that the house where the police raided was purchased by them from the money they earned through cross-border smuggling.

This showed they had been doing this illegal drug business for the last many years, though the suspects claimed they had started it some months back.

Awais Shafiq said the police were also investigating to determine the role of the SHO, the brother of the suspects, in this respect.

To another question about the mode of payment against the smuggled drugs, he said the people from the Indian side used to send money through Hundi.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2025