Punjab: 2 aides of Turkey-based smuggler held with 105 kg of heroin and 6 weapons

Punjab Police on Sunday said it has busted a cross-border smuggling racket with the arrest of two associates of a Turkey-based drug smuggler and seized 105 kg of heroin and six weapons.

Calling it one of the biggest drug busts, police have arrested two associates of Turkey-based drug smuggler Navpreet Singh alias Nav Bhullar.

“In an intelligence-led operation, @PunjabPoliceInd busts a cross-border smuggling racket and arrests two associates of foreign-based drug smuggler Navpreet Singh @ Nav Bhullar and recovers 105 kg heroin, 31.93 kg anhydrous caffeine, 17 kg DMR, 5 in foreign-made pistols and one desi kata (country-made pistol),” Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said in a post on

The arrested have been identified as Navjot Singh, a resident of Guru Tegh Bahadur Colony in Baba Bakala, Amritsar and Lovepreet Kumar, a resident of Kala Sanghian in Kapurthala.

“The water route was used to transport drugs from #Pakistan and large rubber tubes with tires have also been recovered, indicating that narcotic contraband was smuggled through the waterway,” he added.

Yadav said that besides recovering heroin, the police teams also recovered a huge quantity of scheduled drugs from their possession, including 31.93 kg of caffeine anhydrous and 17 kg of dextromethorphan (DMR).

“Investigation revealed that the defendants used these scheduled drugs as multiplication agents to increase the amount of heroin by four times,” he said.

Sharing operation details, Yadav said the Counter Intelligence (CI) Amritsar team has received a tip-off that a foreign-based smuggler Navpreet Singh alias Nav Bhullar is running a Pakistan-backed cross-border smuggling racket with the help of his associates stationed in rented premises accommodation on Colony Lady Road in Baba Bakala.

“An operation was launched and a special check point was established in Baba Bakala area, leading to the arrest of suspects Navjot Singh and Lovepreet Kumar and recovery of seven kg of heroin and a car in which they were travelling, the DGP said.

The DGP further said that based on the disclosure statements of the arrested suspects, police teams recovered the remaining 98 kg of heroin along with weapons, caffeine anhydrous and DMR from their rented premises, he said.

Further investigations are underway to determine the forward and backward links in the case, and police teams are searching for more criminals involved in the drug cartel, police officials said.

A case has been registered under Sections 21, 25 and 29 of the NDPS Act and Section 25 of the Arms Act at the Police Station State Special Operations Cell (SSOC), Amritsar.