The Customs department seized 532 kg of suspected heroin worth Rs 2,700 crore, officials said on Sunday. This is the biggest ever haul in the history of Indian customs, Customs (Preventive) Commissioner Deepak Kumar Gupta said, according to PTI.
The heroin was being smuggled into India from Pakistan in a truck through the trade route at the Attari border, officials said. The alleged mastermind of the racket, Tariq Ahmad, who is based in Handwara in Kashmir, was arrested, Gupta said, adding that the importer of the rock salt consignment, based in Amritsar, was detained for questioning.
Gupta said the consignment of heroin and another 52 kg of suspected narcotics were hidden under hundreds of bags of rock salt inside the truck. The import consignment from Pakistan had arrived in India on Friday and the truck driver returned after unloading it, the police officer said.
When the consignment was checked at 1.30 pm on Saturday, one sack was found containing white coloured powder. On detailed examination of 600 bags, 15 were found to contain heroin weighing 532 kg and mixed with narcotics of 52 kg.
“The value of heroin in the international market is approximately Rs 2,700 crore,” he said. “This is one of the biggest seizures of heroin by Indian agency along the Indo-Pakistan border...It is the biggest success of Customs Preventive Commissionerate, Amritsar against organised smuggling of narcotics including heroin along Indo-Pakistan border through trade route.”
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