LAHORE, July 2: The police claimed on Saturday to have arrested four drug pushers from Misri Shah and seized from them two packets of heroin weighing up to 2.5 kilo besides local as well as fake foreign currency notes.

Two suspects were allegedly transporting the narcotics and fake currency to hand it over to another person near Wagah Border by a rickshaw. They were stopped by a Mujahid Squad team for checking but they sped away towards Neelam Cinema Chowk.

The police officials spotted the three-wheeler after a brief chase, took the suspects into custody and recovered from them two packets of fine quality heroin and foreign currency, including US dollars and Indian rupees.

The suspects identified as Umer Farooq and Arshad tried to bribe Mujahid squad in charge Zeeshan Sadiq and constables Tahir, Imran and Jabbar Rs500,000 each, but they refused.

The suspects are both residents of Gujrat and their two accomplices, Nadir Ali and Akhtar, were also taken into custody on their disclosure.

Mujahid and Mobiles SP Athar Waheed told Dawn the suspects, who received contraband from a person near the University of Engineering and Technology, were going to hand over narcotics and currency to another person who would smuggle it out of the country. He said the heroin was of fine quality worth millions of rupees in the international market.

However, the CIA got examined the $5,700 and hundreds of Indian rupees seized from the suspects but the currency was proved fake.

The SP said that peddlers, who earlier used to transport narcotics in private vehicles, were now using public transport and cheapest modes of transportation like bicycles to deceive police and law-enforcement agencies.

He said Mujahid police patrolling and checking at regular pickets had been reorganized, especially after the launch of 'Drug Free City' project a month ago, adding officials at a picket on the Old Ravi Bridge caught a cyclist on Friday last and seized from him one kilo hashish.