New Delhi, August 25The anti-terror federal probe agency NIA on Thursday said it conducted simultaneous raids at 20 locations in Delhi (14), Gujarat (2), Punjab (1) and West Bengal (3) as part of its probe into a case linked to seizure of 2,988 kg of heroin at Mundra Port in September 2021 and arrested two more accused persons.A spokesperson of the agency said, “Based on investigations so far and incriminating evidence obtained during the searches, two key accused persons involved in smuggling of heroin through import consignments from Afghanistan using maritime route, have been arrested today.”The arrested accused persons have been identified as Harpreet Singh Talwar alias Kabir Talwar and Prince Sharma, as both of them are residents of Delhi.”The arrested accused persons are a part of international drug smuggling network involved in smuggling of large commercial quantities of Heroin originating from Afghanistan into India,” the spokesperson said, adding that investigation “continues to unravel the entire supply chain and network of money laundering, drug distribution and other players involved in this international drug network”.They used to conceal heroin in import consignments of material, such as semi-processed Talc, Bituminous coal etc, the spokesperson said.”One such consignment of about 3000 kg of heroin was intercepted and seized at Mundra Port by DRI on September 13, 2021. The accused persons were involved in import of narcotics through fake/shell import companies and further facilitated its transport to Delhi based Afghan nationals involved in purification and of distribution of heroin in many states including Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, UP and other places,” the NIA official said.
