Chandigarh, Jan 3 (IANS): Amritsar Commissionerate Police have busted a cross-border drug and weapon smuggling cartel with the arrest of 12 people, including kingpin Manjeet Singh, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab, Gaurav Yadav, here on Friday.

The other 11 arrested accused have been identified as Aniket Verma, Jobanpreet Singh, Babli, Harpreet Singh, Amritpal Singh, Reshma, Harshpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Lovepreet Singh and Akashdeep Singh.

Police teams have recovered 2.19 kg heroin, three sophisticated pistols, including two automatic ones, and Rs 2.60 lakh drug money from their possession.

DGP Yadav said that accused Manjeet, who is a key player, was in direct contact with Pakistan-based smugglers and handlers and was receiving consignments of drugs and weapons from across the border.

The probe revealed that consignments were being dropped at Ramdas and Ajnala border sectors with the help of drones, he added.

The DGP said further investigations are on to establish forward and backward linkages in this case.

Sharing more details, Commissioner of Police (Amritsar) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said following a tip-off that accused Aniket had been in the drug smuggling business, police teams have apprehended him. The arrest of Aniket has unearthed the entire network and led to the arrest of kingpin Manjeet, alias Bhola, and all his accomplices from different locations, he said, adding five of the accused have been arrested from Jammu and Kashmir with the help of local police.

Bhullar said investigations have also revealed that accused Manjeet was using the house of an arrested woman accused Babli, who is an Anganwadi worker, to store the consignments and was using his accomplices to distribute further.

Further investigations are ongoing to uncover the entire network and more arrests and recoveries are likely in days to come.

A case dated December 24, 2024. has been registered under Sections 21(B) and (C), 27-A and 29 of the NDPS Act at Police Station Chheharta in Amritsar.