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Drugs mastermind Harvinder Singh extradited from Britain

Nigeria govt: 3,000 inmates yet to be recaptured following recent jailbreaks

The Special Cell also said that they have lawfully intercepted telephonic calls that contained crucial information…reports Asian Lite News.

After three years of thorough investigation and search operations, the Special Cell of Delhi Police has extradited an international drugs mastermind, Harvinder Singh, from London. The Delhi Police Special Cell said that seven members of this drug syndicate has been already arrested in 2018. The accused Harvinder Singh alias Balli is a resident of the United Kingdom and was charged under several sections of the NDPS Act, by the Delhi Police Special Cell.

On Tuesday, a press note was released by the Delhi Police Special Cell regarding the extradition of Harvinder Singh from the UK. According to the Delhi Police Special Cell, Balli’s name was revealed by his Indian associates during the probe.

The Delhi Police Special Cell said in the press note, “After initial recovery and arrest of his Indian associates, during course of investigation, his name was revealed as mastermind of the drug syndicate who was issuing instructions from London to various co-accused persons in India for procuring a big drug consignment at the United Kingdom.”

The Special Cell also said that they have lawfully intercepted telephonic calls that contained crucial information.

“Lawfully intercepted telephonic calls containing incriminating information against subject constituted strong evidences which finally resulted in filing an Extradition Request against British Citizen Harvinder Singh,” the Special Cell said in the press release.

The Special Cell further mentioned in the press note that, “He is the kingpin of an international drug syndicate and was involved in procuring high quality drugs (psychotropic substance drugs) in the United Kingdom through his network in India.”

Earlier this year, a Special Cell team conducted a raid at Truck Parking, Cargo Complex, Terminal-2, IGI Airport, New Delhi, and a large consignment of drugs was recovered. The Psychotropic Substances were supposed to be delivered to the United Kingdom via Lufthansa Airlines. Two accused involved in the handling of drugs were apprehended by the Special Cell. The accused were identified as Ashish Sharma and Asim Ali.

During the probe, five other accused involved in the drug syndicate was arrested and “huge amount of Psychotropic Substances were further recovered.”

“During course of investigation, other co accused persons namely Praveen Saini, Rajender Kumar, Pawan Kumar, Lalit Sukhija and Axat Gulia were arrested in this case and huge amount of Psychotropic Substances were further recovered on their instance,” the Special Cell mentioned in the press release.

As of now, the special cell has recovered 4 Kg of Mephedrone Drug, Diazepam powdered Drug, 6,53,244 tablets (147.8 Kg. by weight) including Diazepam, Lorazepam, Alprazolam and Nitrazepam tablets in this case.

For extraditing Harvinder Singh from UK, the Special Cell filed a chargesheet and an extradition request was prepared on behalf of the Government of India. Balli was arrested by the UK Police in February, this year. The Special Cell said, “Charge sheet was finalized and filed before Ld. Trial Court and an open dated NBW was obtained against wanted accused Harvinder Singh from Hon’ble Court.”

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-Top News USA

Another ‘killer’ pandemic grips US

Overdose deaths have more than doubled since 2015, said the report, adding that it resulted from losing access to treatment, rising mental health problems and wider availability of dangerously potent street drugs…reports Asian Lite News

 More than 100,000 Americans have died from drug overdoses in the yearlong period ending in April amid the raging Covid-19 pandemic, a media report said citing provisional figures from the National Center for Health Statistics.

It is for the first time the number of overdose deaths in the US has surpassed 100,000 a year after increasing almost 30 per cent from the 78,000 fatalities in the prior year, Xinhua news agency quoted The New York Times report as saying.

Overdose deaths have more than doubled since 2015, said the report, adding that it resulted from losing access to treatment, rising mental health problems and wider availability of dangerously potent street drugs.

The fatalities have lasting repercussions, since most of them occurred among people aged 25 to 55, in the prime of life, Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse was quoted as saying.

According to experts, overdoses increased in all but four of the 50 US states.

The number of deaths from drugs has now surpassed those from guns, car crashes and the flu.

The highest increase in overdose deaths was recorded in Vermont, where the number of fatalities rose 70 per cent to 209.

Vermont was followed by West Virginia (62 per cent) and Kentucky (55 per cent).

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-Top News Afghanistan

Afghanistan set to become narco-state under Taliban rule

Afghanistan opium pic credits ANI

Some in Taliban leadership are of the view that legalising the poppy would help them in growing the war-battered economy of Afghanistan….reports Asian Lite News

When the Taliban overran Kabul in August, concerns were raised that the drug menace in the country could get worse. However, the group then promised to eradicate the poppy cultivation will be stopped.

Cut to October, Taliban leaders have hinted that they are mulling legalisation of farming of poppy, according to a report.

Afghanistan, which exports more than 90 per cent of the world’s heroin, might get fresh impetus for the drug trade under the Taliban.

According to the report in Knews, the Taliban can now freely nourish and cultivate the raw element of opium and its killer byproduct, heroin.

Afghanistan-Opium

This comes despite the Taliban claim that they will annihilate poppy farms in the southern parcel of the war-ravished country as they endeavour to institute a hardline interpretation of Islamic Law

Haji Abdul Haq Akhond Hamkar, Deputy Minister of Counter Narcotics, Ministry of Interior indicating that the door is still open to potential “legalisation” of farming — providing Afghans are not the ones harmed.

“We either create alternative jobs or legalize it. Then the problem is solved,” Hamkar conjectures. “We are working on it; we are open to the idea.”

Some in Taliban leadership are of the view that legalising the poppy would help them in growing the war-battered economy of Afghanistan.

The high pharmaceutical-contingent nations utilise the poppy fields in countries such as Australia and Turkey as a legal means to harvest the plants required for opioids and other critical painkillers.

“If such a thing is possible, it’s best to work on legalising it. It will help grow the economy, and we won’t have to put a lot of effort into it because it’s already being cultivated widely,” surmises Mawlawi Noor Ahmad Sayeed, the Director of Information and Culture in Kandahar.

Afghanistan has been among the world’s top illicit drug-producing countries. There are scores of drug addicts currently on the streets.

Multiple reports indicate that poppy cultivation and drug trafficking provide a big income source for the Taliban, mainly in the southern and northern parts of the country.

Most of the drug smuggling goes through Iran and the Taliban make a big buck with it.

Taliban so far have a crackdown on small drug dealers and but big dealers have been given a free pass. (ANI)

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-Top News India News

Drugs With Pak Marks Find in Uri

The scrutiny of the two recovered bags revealed approximately 25 to 30 kilograms of drug-like substance in packages with Pakistani markings….reports Asian Lite News

The Jammu and Kashmir Police said on Sunday that a major drug smuggling bid was foiled by the security forces in the Uri sector in which drugs with Pakistani markings were recovered.

“On 2nd October, alert Indian troops deployed along Line of Control (LOC) in Uri sector observed some suspicious movement.

“During searches of the area, two bags were recovered. The bags contained a large amount of contraband-like material. The scrutiny of the two bags revealed approximately 25 to 30 kilograms of drug-like substance in packages with Pakistani markings.

“The exact nature of the heroine-like substance is being ascertained.

“The value of the suspected contraband is around Rs 20 to 25 crores in the black market.

“The legal proceedings have been initiated after the recovered contraband was handed over to concerned police.

“Case FIR no 101 of police station Uri has been registered under relevant sections of law,” the police said.

“The huge drug haul along the LoC showcases the nefarious designs of Pakistan based narco-militant nexus and its inimical intent to abet militancy and finance militancy in India.

“This drug haul in the Uri sector comes just days after one Pakistani origin militant was neutralised and another namely Ali Babar, resident of Okara, Pakistan captured alive in this sector in an extended search operation culminating on September 28, 2021”, police said.

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-Top News Afghanistan India News

Drug abuse on the rise in Kashmir as Pak facilitates supply from Afghanistan

Huge-quantity-of-heroin-was-recovered-after-a-Pakistani-sponsored-terror-module-was-busted-by-Jammu-and-Kashmir-police-in-North-Kashmirs-Kupwara-district-

According to the statistics maintained at the Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar and other drug de-addiction centres, heroin smuggled in from Afghanistan has become the main drug of abuse. Around 95% of the patients treated or under treatment at different de-addiction centres have been found abusing this deleterious psychotropic drug, a report by Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

Drug abuse is on the rise in Kashmir, with supplies routed through the infamous AfPak region-the combination of Afghanistan and Pakistan, known as the ground-zero for drugs, violence and terrorism. The Jammu and Kashmir Police in collaboration with the Department of Health and Medical Education have set up drug de-addiction centres and treated thousands of patients at all the district headquarters in the Kashmir valley but it has not been able to stop smuggling of psychotropic substances from Afghanistan via Pakistan.

According to the statistics maintained at the Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar and other drug de-addiction centres, heroin smuggled in from Afghanistan has become the main drug of abuse. Around 95% of the patients treated or under treatment at different de-addiction centres have been found abusing this deleterious psychotropic drug.

At the Srinagar GMC’s de-addiction centre, among those under treatment are a couple married as late as in 2019. The 29-year-old husband with his 28-year-old wife has been found taking heroin through an intravenous route. They occasionally cross paths in the hospital’s corridors outside their contiguous wards.

According to one of the four doctors attending the patients at the de-addiction centre, a large number of the families had admitted two or two members simultaneously for consuming heroin through IV or other routes. “Many of them come in from affluent families who fall in the wrong company and spend a lot of money to acquire this high-priced drug”, says a psychiatrist at the GMC Srinagar.

ALSO READ: Kashmir’s Descent Into Drugs & Criminalisation

“We have noticed a remarkable increase in the heroin abuse in the last two years but we have no means to determine a political reason behind it. It can or cannot be coincidence that the drug abuse has assumed menacing proportions during a combination of political and medical lockdown. Since March 2020, the Covid pandemic has kept everybody indoors. There have been familial implosions. Marriages have broken and students have forgotten about their school cultures. Smuggling and circulation of psychotropic substances has multiplied during the same period”, said a doctor at the Police Control Room in Srinagar.

According to a senior Police officer, 35 kg of heroin, 5 kg of marijuana and 3 kg of brown sugar valued at Rs 182 crore in the Indian drug markets have been seized by Police in the Kupwara Police district-half of the Kupwara revenue district-in the first six months of the current year. The recoveries made by the security forces, particularly the Army, are equally voluminous.

Drugs from Afghanistan via Pakistan have been flowing in through Kupwara and Baramulla districts on the LoC in Kashmir as also through Poonch and Rajouri districts on the LoC and Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts on the International Border in Jammu. “Over 90% of the quantities are smuggled in through conventional routes and methods but at least 10% of the quantities are now believed to be entering through tunnels and drones”, said a senior Police officer in Jammu.

“Until recently, we used to say Udta Punjab. But now we say Udta Jammu and Kashmir ”, said the officer. According to him, 60% of the drugs, particularly heroin, was going all the way to Amritsar, Chandigarh, Delhi and Mumbai and about 40% was believed to be in the local consumption. Some of the officers, not authorised to speak to the media, put it at Rs 1,000 crore a year business.

Those admitted and treated at GMC’s DDC recently include two members of a family, in their mid-40s and the family head’s 10-year-old grandson. The boy is on Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST), a treatment regimen that induces abandonment of heroin and other opium derivatives-highly addictive and with life-threatening consequences. The doctors treating the boy detected that he had been infected with Hepatitis-C virus, a common infection among IV drug abusers. If ignored, Hepatitis-C can lead to liver cirrhosis and prove to be fatal.

The 10-year-old is now under treatment of Hepatitis-C and supervision of a composite team of doctors and psychiatrists including a couple of professors from GMC’s Department of Gastroenterology.

ALSO READ: Drug trafficking to intensify in Pakistan due to Afghanistan violence

Consumption of heroin by syringe for a 10-year-old could be fatal, says a doctor. “But we are optimistic of good results as he has been admitted at an appropriate time. We don’t know how many of such boys and girls have been destroyed in Kashmir or would be still taking these dangerous drugs”.

The boy had seen his father and uncle take heroin through syringes. Out of his curiosity after falling in the company of some drug addicts, he too began consuming heroin and ended up with an infection of Hepatitis-C.

According to a doctor, the age of experimenting with drugs had come down and the number of addicts spiralled in the last five or six years. “We have noticed a remarkable increase in the number of addiction cases particularly in the last two years. Lockdowns and deterioration of the value systems due to the internet and social media have made the ground fertile for the drug menace in Kashmir”, he asserted. An early intervention and counselling, according to him, could save many lives and families.

According to the official statistics, 6,234 patients have been examined and treated for drug addiction at the DDCs in Kashmir since the outbreak of Covid-19 in March 2020. Of these, 4,830 had been found taking heroin intravenously. Additionally, 1,054 were those taking heroin through other routes. With this combination of 5,884 patients, 95% of the drug addicts were found consuming heroin. 70% of them were taking it by syringe.

The Jammu and Kashmir Government had introduced a drug de-addiction policy in the President’s rule in January 2019. It provided for the staff of 15 departments to work in coordination to uproot the menace of drug addiction. While Police, Narcotics and Excise are required to reduce availability of drugs through various measures including crackdown on the supply chain, the departments of Education, Information & Broadcasting and Social Welfare are supposed to lessen the demand. But around the scheduled date of its implementation in February 2020, Covid-19 engulfed the entire country.

There has been no movement forward in the last over 17 months.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

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COVID-19 India News

DRDO’s anti-COVID drug approved for emergency use

Clinical trial results have shown that this molecule helps in faster recovery of hospitalised patients and reduces supplemental oxygen dependence…reports Asian Lite News.

The Drugs Controller General of India has approved an anti-COVID-19 drug developed by the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS) for emergency use, the Defence Ministry has said.

An anti-Covid-19 therapeutic application of the drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) has been developed by INMAS, a lab of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), in collaboration with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL), Hyderabad.

Clinical trial results have shown that this molecule helps in faster recovery of hospitalised patients and reduces supplemental oxygen dependence.

A higher proportion of patients treated with 2-DG showed RT-PCR negative conversion in Covid patients. The drug will be of immense benefit to the people suffering from Covid-19.

“Pursuing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for preparedness against the pandemic, DRDO took the initiative of developing anti-COVID therapeutic application of 2-DG,” the ministry said in a statement on Friday.


A health worker inoculates a Man with a dose of the Covishield vaccine against the Covid-19 coronavirus at a school temporary converted into a vaccination center, in New Delhi on India  May 03, 2021 (Pallav Paliwal)

In April 2020, during the first wave of the pandemic, INMAS-DRDO scientists conducted laboratory experiments with the help of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad and found that this molecule works effectively against the SARS-CoV-2 virus and inhibits the viral growth.

Based on these results, the Drugs Controller General of India’s (DCGI) Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) permitted the Phase-II clinical trial of 2-DG in COVID-19 patients in May 2020.

The DRDO, along with its industry partner DRL, Hyderabad, started clinical trials to test the safety and efficacy of the drug in COVID-19 patients.

In Phase-II trials (including dose-ranging) conducted from May to October 2020, the drug was found to be safe in Covid-19 patients and showed significant improvement in their recovery.

Phase-IIa was conducted in six hospitals and Phase IIb (dose-ranging) clinical trial was conducted at 11 hospitals all over the country. The Phase-II trial was conducted on 110 patients.

A medical worker prepares a dose of the Covishield vaccine against the Covid-19 coronavirus at a school temporary converted into a vaccination center, in New Delhi on India. (Pallav Paliwal)

Inefficacy trends, the patients treated with 2-DG showed faster symptomatic cure than Standard of Care (SoC) on various endpoints.

“A significantly favorable trend (2.5 days difference) was seen in terms of the median time to achieving normalization of specific vital signs parameters when compared to SoC,” the ministry said.

Based on successful results, the DCGI further permitted the Phase-III clinical trials in November 2020.

The Phase-III clinical trial was conducted on 220 patients between December 2020 to March 2021 at 27 Covid hospitals in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The detailed data of the Phase-III clinical trial was presented to the DCGI.


 A health worker inoculates a Man with a dose of the Covishield vaccine against the Covid-19 coronavirus at a school temporary converted into a vaccination center, in New Delhi on India  May 03, 2021 (Pallav Paliwal)

“In 2-DG arm, a significantly higher proportion of patients improved symptomatically and became free from supplemental oxygen dependence (42% vs 31%) by Day-3 in comparison to SoC, indicating an early relief from Oxygen therapy/dependence,” the ministry stated.

A similar trend was observed in patients aged more than 65 years.

On May 1, 2021, the DCGI granted permission for the Emergency Use of this drug as an adjunct therapy in moderate to severe COVID-19 patients.

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-Top News Asia News India News

Narco smuggling into Kashmir on the rise

Of the high-value drugs smuggled in from Afghanistan and Pakistan, 10% of the quantity is believed to be for local consumption and 90% for high-end clients in Amritsar, Chandigarh, New Delhi, Mumbai and other Indian cities, reports Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFt86QyKNRc

The valley of Kashmir particularly the northern Kupwara district is rapidly turning into a major hub of the narcotics smuggled in from Afghanistan and Pakistan. According to the official figures, heroin worth over Rs 300 crore has been seized in the valley in the last 16 months even as the volume of the drugs smuggled in, produced and traded in the same period is estimated to be of the order of Rs 600 crore.

“59 kilos of heroin, 51 kilos of brown sugar and 355 kilos of charas (marijuana) has been seized in Kashmir from 1 January 2020 to 20 April 2021. This is in addition to fukki and processed drugs in the form of capsules, tablets and injections recovered from different individuals and gangs during the same period”, Inspector General of Police Kashmir, Vijay Kumar, revealed to India Narrative.

According to the official statistics, Police have also seized 2,000 kg of fukki, 73,800 drug tablets and capsules and 245 vials of injections besides cash worth Rs 14820248 (1.48 crore) from the persons dealing with drugs and psychotropic substances since 1 January 2020.

1,498 persons have been booked and arrested in 946 FIRs under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Charge-sheets have been produced against 530 persons in different courts in the Union Territory.

The revenue district of Kupwara, comprising Kupwara and Handwara Police districts, is emerging as the epicentre of the drug smuggling with its advantage of being contiguous to the border areas of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). 19 kg of heroin has been seized in Kupwara and 22 kg in Handwara in addition to 10.3 kg of charas in Kupwara and 7.4 kg in Handwara. Police have also recovered 48.5 kg of brown sugar in Kupwara and 0.27 kg in Handwara.

Of the cash recovered from the people engaged in drug smuggling and trafficking, Rs 1,37,91,738 has been recovered in Handwara alone.

Also read:Pakistan remains dangerous country for journalists

Seventy NDPS-related FIRs have been registered in Kupwara and 44 in Handwara, even as 25 cases have been chargesheeted in Kupwara and 18 in Handwara and 86 persons have been arrested in Kupwara and 69 in Handwara.

One of the high profile cases in Handwara has been assigned to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) which has completed a part of the investigation, taken custody of the accused traffickers from the Police and arrested some of them. The NIA has filed its charge-sheet for prosecution in a designated court in Jammu.

Senior Army and Police officers maintained that the entire Kashmir valley was now affected by the drugs and narcotics being smuggled in from Pakistan and Afghanistan, traded, consumed and also produced locally.

“However, there is one marked difference between North Kashmir and South Kashmir. Almost the entire quantity of drugs in circulation in the North is smuggled in from Afghanistan and Pakistan, mainly to convert it into terror funding. Contrarily, the drugs in circulation in South Kashmir are procured out of the poppy straw grown on large chunks of land in Pulwama, Kulgam and Anantnag districts”, said one Senior Superintendent of Police.

“Militants, growers and traders (of drugs) are not by and large linked to one another in South Kashmir but they do not disturb others. This is different from North Kashmir where terror funds are generated out of the large scale smuggling of the high-value heroin”, said the SSP.

Afghanistan is the source of more than 90% of world’s opium supply and more than 95% of the European opium supply since 2001.

Since the United States military occupation of Afghanistan in 2001, followed by the NATO occupation in 2003, opium production has increased exponentially in Afghanistan. According to Global Research, October 17, 2018, the area under opium cultivation has increased to as much as 3,28,000 hectares in Afghanistan in 2017.

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While 25% of the drugs produced locally in the southern Kashmir are believed to be consumed, mostly by the youths in the age group of 14-34 years, around 75% of the productions is smuggled out to traders and consumers in different Indian States. Of the high-value drugs smuggled in from Afghanistan and Pakistan, 10% of the quantity is believed to be for local consumption and 90% for high-end clients in Amritsar, Chandigarh, New Delhi, Mumbai and other Indian cities.

According to senior Police officials, including Director General of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, Dilbag Singh, gangs of professional smugglers have been receiving drug consignments through different modes, including underground tunnels. In some cases, drones are believed to have dropped the consignments along the International Border in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts in Jammu and Pathankot and Gurdaspur districts in Punjab.

During its investigation in different cases in Jammu and Kashmir, the Enforce Directorate (ED) has also detected smuggling of heroin through the cross-LoC barter trade. It has been officially asserted that the proceeds of the contraband were being used for funding of the secessionist militancy. In the wake of such detections, and finally a suicide attack on the CRPF on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in February 2019, the cross-LoC trade and travel has been completely suspended.

(This content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

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Categories
-Top News Canada

Canada busts int’l drug racket with links to India, US

Twenty-five of those arrested are Punjabi men from the Indian-dominated city of Brampton on the outskirts of Toronto…reports Asian Lite News.

An Indo-Canadian drug racket with links to the US and India has been busted with the arrest of 33 persons, who were charged with over 130 criminal offences, officials said.

Ten kg of cocaine, 8 kg of ketamine, 3 kg of heroin, 2.5 kg of opium, 48 firearms and $730,000 in Canadian currency have been seized under the ‘Operation Cheetah’.

Among the 33, 27 were arrested and charged in the Greater Toronto Area, with 19 of them hailing from the town of Brampton. Of these, 23 are of Punjabi origin. One suspect, Gurbinder Sooch, remains at large.

The arrests and drug seizure come after the year-long ‘Operation Cheetah’ culminated in raids last week, which were carried out by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the US Drug Enforcement Administration and regional police forces in Ontario, British Columbia and California, resulting in the arrest of 33 people.

Twenty-five of those arrested are Punjabi men from the Indian-dominated city of Brampton on the outskirts of Toronto.

They have been identified as Parshotem Malhi, 54, Rupinder Dhillion, 37, Sanveer Singh, 25, Haripal Nagra, 45, Pritpal Singh, 56, Harkiran Singh, 33, Lakhpreet Brar, 29, Balwinder Dhaliwal, 60, Sukhmanpreet Singh, 23, Khushal Bhinder, 36, Prabhjeet Mundian, 34, Vansh Arora, 24, Simranjeet Narang, 28, Gaganpreet Gill, 28, Sukjit Dhaliwal, 47, Harjot Singh, 31, and Sukhjit Dhugga, 35.

Gurbinder Sooch, 41, with no fixed address, has also been arrested.

These men smuggled cocaine, ketamine, heroin and opium into Canada and distributed them through their underground network.

They face various criminal offences, including conspiracies to import banned substances, drug smuggling, and possession of property obtained by crime.

The York Regional Police said that some of the drugs were found at “kids indoor playground”.

Officers seized drugs valued at approximately $2.3 million and including 10 kg of cocaine, 8 kg of ketamine, 3 kg of heroin and 2.5 kg of opium. Investigators also seized 48 firearms and $730,000 in Canadian currency. Most of the weapons were seized from Caledon. Police say the guns were lawfully possessed by a person who now faces charges.

Cocaine and other drugs smuggled into Canada come from California and are brought in by the truckers. A few months back, a Punjabi trucker named Amanpreet Sandhu from Calgary was arrested while smuggling drugs worth over $28 million – a record in Canada.
India’s Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) had shared vital inputs with Canada and the US in the last two years over the racket being run from Canadian soil. The Indian agencies had, in different operations in the last three years, found drugs were transported to Canada from Punjab in vessels, electronic machines and even in holy books.

In one case, the NCB had traced smuggling of cocaine to Punjab from Canada for local use as well as further trafficking to Delhi and Goa. Sources said that the follow-up probe would lead to the arrest of a number of international smugglers based out of Canada, Italy and Australia who were wanted by security agencies in India.

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