The North News
Chandigarh, June 10
In a major breakthrough, Punjab Police have busted sophisticated narco-hawala cartel orchestrated by a jailed kingpin. Acting on specific intelligence inputs, the Amritsar Commissionerate Police arrested six individuals and recovered over 4.5kg of heroin and ₹8.7 lakh in drug money. The racket was being operated by Arshdeep, currently lodged in Goindwal Jail. The police said that Arshdeep ran the operation with the help of close associates, including Jaspreet Singh alias Jassa and Kuldeep Singh alias Deepu, who coordinated drug supply and cash movements using hawala channels, said Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav in his post on X. The arrests, which include suspects from various districts, followed a series of raids carried out over the past week. The Police said that the heroin was likely sourced from across the border and pushed into domestic markets through local peddlers.
“This is a well-structured cartel that had clear divisions of responsibility, from logistics to finance,” said a senior police official. “Despite being incarcerated, Arshdeep was able to communicate and command operations, which points to a larger nexus between organised crime and prison corruption.”
The operation underscores growing concerns about the role of jails as command centres for narcotics and arms smuggling in northern India. The Police are now tracing links to international trafficking networks and hawala handlers operating in Delhi, Mumbai and beyond.
Officials said more arrests were likely as forensic analysis of digital devices and financial records continues. A case under the NDPS Act has been registered and further interrogation of the accused is underway.
