The container was opened up which led to the recovery of a big haul of 75 kg heroin.
Police on Tuesday said the consignment of 75 kg heroin, which was seized from a container at Mundra Port in Gujarat, was to be routed to some other place via Punjab.
The Punjab Police in a joint operation with the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad on Tuesday seized 75 kg of heroin from the container at the Mundra Port, said DGP Gaurav Yadav here.
He said the Punjab Police shared the input regarding the smuggling of heroin from UAE to Punjab with the central agencies and the Gujarat ATS.
The contraband was kept concealed in the container of unstitched clothes using a cardboard pipe which was further camouflaged by an oversized plastic pipe, said the DGP.
The container, which was loaded from Jebel Ali port in UAE, was booked by an importer from Malerkotla, Punjab, said Yadav.
As per preliminary investigations, the director general of police (DGP) said as the links of the container have been established with Punjab, this consignment was to be routed to some other place via Punjab.
“Punjab part is being explored and investigated,” he added.
DGP Yadav said that following inputs, the Punjab Police's State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) SAS Nagar had immediately sent police teams to Gujarat and deputed them at the Mundra Port.
“In coordination with the central agency and ATS Gujarat, the searches were made at the Mundra Port with the help of Customs,” he said, adding that after following due procedure and documentation, the container was opened up which led to the recovery of a big haul of 75 kg heroin.
The consignment was opened in presence of customs officials and magistrate, he stated.
To ascertain backward and forward linkages, some suspected persons from Malerkotla and Ludhiana found to be linked with this import of consignment have been called for questioning by the concerned district police, said DGP Yadav.
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