NIA arrests two in Mundra Port heroin seizure case

The arrested accused are Harpreet Singh Talwar alias Kabir Talwar and Prince Sharma. Both are residents of Delhi.

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday arrested two accused involved in a 2988 kgs heroin smuggling case at Mundra Port in Gujarat. An NIA official toldETV Bharatthat the arrested accused are a part of an international drug smuggling network involved in smuggling large commercial quantities of Heroin originating from Afghanistan into India.

“Heroin was being concealed in import consignments of material, such as semi-processed Talc, Bituminous coal, etc. One such consignment of about 3000 kgs of Heroin was intercepted and seized at Mundra Port by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on September 13 last year. The accused persons were involved in the import of narcotics through fake and shell companies and further facilitated its transport to Delhi-based Afghan nationals involved in purification and distribution of Heroin in many states including Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, U.P, etc,” the official said.

On Wednesday, NIA conducted simultaneous searches at 20 locations in various States (Delhi-14, Gujarat-2, Punjab-1, and West Bengal-3) in case RC 26/2021/NIA/DLI related to the seizure of 2988 Kgs of Heroin at Mundra Port. “Based on investigations so far and incriminating evidence obtained during the searches, two key accused involved in smuggling of Heroin through import consignments from Afghanistan using maritime route, have been arrested today,” the official said.

The arrested accused are Harpreet Singh Talwar alias Kabir Talwar and Prince Sharma. Both are residents of Delhi. The official said that investigation is on to unravel the entire supply chain and network of money laundering, drug distribution, and other players involved in this international drug network.