CHANDIGARH: The Border Security Force (BSF) on Sunday early morning seized 64.3 kilograms of heroin being smuggled into the country. The drug-laden tube consignment, which was camouflaged and tied to the aquatic weeds to escape the vigil of the BSF troopers, was nabbed close to the India-Pakistan international border. It was worth around Rs 300 crore in the intentional market.
Highly placed sources in the BSF said that the around 2.45 AM today morning, the alert troopers of the force who were on regular patrol duty on the Ravi river at the India and Pakistan international border in Nagoli area in Batala Police district of Punjab spotted a movement of a large group of waterweeds (Jal Khambu) in the river some 100 metres inside the Indian territory. As there are naka parties of the force on both sides of the river they were immediately informed and stopped the group of weeds was stopped/
A senior officer of the BSF told this newspaper that as the weeds were taken out of the river, four cloth bags were recovered which were full of football and volleyball bladders. These bags were tied to the weeds and were thus floating deep inside the water in the river.
"The drugs (heroin) was stacked into these waterproof bladders so that it could not be detected. 1500 metres of nylon rope was also recovered along with these bags. It is suspected that someone sitting across the border was slowly guiding the consignment into India with the rope so that it can be safely delivered to the smugglers who were suspected to be around in that area,’’ he said.
Sources said that from the bladders, sixty packets of heroin were recovered which after weighing was found to be around 64.3 kilograms with each packet weighing a little more than one kilogram. After nabbing the drugs, BSF started a massive search operation in the area to track the smugglers who were suspected to be around that place in order to receive this consignment.
"Once the formalities are over we will hand over this consignment to the Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB). It is one of the biggest drug consignments seized by the BSF in the recent past," said an officer.
The BSF officers did not divulge the worth of the drugs, but sources said that it is worth Rs 300 crore in the international market. The drug peddlers from Pakistan have been using porous riverine zones on the international border to sneak in narcotics into India. These peddlers use these water channels to send drugs into the country.