NCB busts international drug racket linked to Punjab; two arrested

With the arrest of two people and seizure of drugs worth about Rs 2 crore, the NCB on Tuesday claimed to have busted an international drugs smuggling racket running between Canada and Punjab.

The federal anti-narcotics agency said the operation resulted in the first-ever recovery of high-quality cocaine in the Jalandhar district of Punjab.

Cocaine is a powerful stimulant which is mainly consumed in party circuits by youngsters.

The narcotics smuggling racket was unearthed after a consignment of 422 grams of south American-origin cocaine was sent in a printer-machine courier from Canada to Jalandhar via Delhi few days back, a senior official said.

Once the consignment was intercepted and the drug was recovered by the NCB in Delhi, a replica of the consignment was sent across to Jalandhar that was received by a person identified as Yogesh Kumar Dhuna.

Dhuna disclosed the name of his alleged link Akshinder Singh, he said.

Dhuna and Singh have been arrested by the Amritsar zonal office of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) from Jalandhar.

Another 115 grams of cocaine, 13 grams of ephedrine, 80 grams of hashish oil, over 290 drugs capsules, a four-wheeler and few other items were seized after Singh was nabbed, he said.

The racket, with linkages to Canada and Australia, is spread across Delhi, Punjab and Mumbai and is handled by drug traffickers in Punjab, he said.

The NCB estimated the international market value of the seized drugs at about Rs 2 crore.

The agency, they said, had "excellent coordination" with Punjab police and its special task force (STF) in this operation and more people under the scanner are being searched by them.