Ferozepur, November 26: Punjab Police’s Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) in the Ferozepur Range has arrested a key financier tied to a cross-border drug network, recovering ₹20.55 lakh in suspected drug money as part of the ongoing probe into a 50kg heroin haul.
AIG Gurinderbir Singh Sidhu said investigators tracked the financier after analysing a mobile phone seized from Sandeep Singh, alias Seepa, who was earlier arrested in the case. “Forensic teams found sustained communication with a Pakistani smuggler. That led us to a deeper financial chain behind the heroin consignment,” Sidhu said in Chandigarh on Wednesday.
The ANTF technical unit in Mohali, working with the Ferozepur Range, traced the communication trail to Shriyansh, a Ludhiana resident originally from Bikaner, Rajasthan. Police said he had been using encrypted routes shared by the Pakistani handler to move drug money.
An ANTF team arrested him and seized ₹20.55 lakh in cash. Sidhu said the arrest dealt “a critical hit to the financial spine of the cartel,” adding, “Unless we choke the money trail, these networks keep rebuilding even after major seizures.”
Police have booked the accused under Sections 27-A and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, invoking provisions related to financing, harbouring and conspiracy. “Using Section 27-A shows our intent to dismantle not just traffickers but the entire financial ecosystem around them,” Sidhu said.
Investigators are mapping forward and backward links of the alleged narco-hawala chain, including contacts within India and across the border. More arrests are expected as the probe expands into the encrypted digital channels the syndicate reportedly used along the India-Pakistan border.
