DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

Seven drug suppliers, including their gang's mastermind, were arrested as the Punjab Police busted an interstate network of making illegal psychotropic substances substances and supply units in Himachal Pradesh, officials said on Saturday. During the entire operation spread across five states -- Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra -- the police also seized Rs 70.42 lakh worth intoxicant tablets or capsules, 725.5 kg intoxicant tramadol powder and Rs 2.37 lakh in cash, Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said in a post on X.

"In a big blow to pharma opioids, Special Task Force(#STF) busts an interstate network of manufacturing illegal psychotropic substances and supply units running from a pharma factory in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh," the DGP said, adding that seven drug smugglers/suppliers, including the mastermind, have been arrested. The development came after three-month-long investigations of backward and forward linkages carried out by the STF, Border Range, Amritsar into the arrest of two drug smugglers -- Sukhwinder Singh alias Dhami of village Kot Muhammad Khan in Tarn Taran and Jaspreet Singh alias Jass of Govind Nagar in Amritsar, the officials said.

Sukhwinder and Jaspreet were arrested after the recovery of Rs 4.24 lakh worth narcotic tablets and capsules from Beas in February this year, the police said.

DGP Yadav said the arrest of this duo helped the police arrest the kingpin of the racket, identified as Alex Paliwal from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

Rs 9.04 lakh worth intoxicant tablets and Rs 1.37 lakh in cash were recovered from Paliwal's possession, he said.

Following Paliwal's arrest, the police extended its investigation to Himachal Pradesh, where in the presence of drug control officers Sukhdeep Singh and Ramneek Singh they scrutinised Biogenetic Drug Private Limited and seized the records that showed that the company had manufactured over 20 crore Alprazolam tablets in just eight months, Yadav said.

These records traced the supply chain to Aster Pharma in Maharashtra, where further investigations led the police to Biogenetic Drug Private Limited's sister pharma manufacturing company Smilex Pharmachem Drug Industries based in Baddi in Himachal Pradesh, DGP Yadav said in a statement.

He added that the subsequent operation targeting Smilex Pharmachem Drug Industries yielded a substantial seizure of Rs 47.32 lakh worth intoxicant capsules and 725.5 kg of intoxicant tramadol powder, sufficient to manufacture 1.5 crore capsules.

The records revealed that Smilex Pharmachem Drug Industries purchased 6,500 kg of intoxicant tramadol powder within a year, the police officer said.

DGP Yadav said the concurrent investigations into transportation and distribution led to the apprehension of accused Intezar Salmani, Prince Salmani, Baljinder Singh and Suba Singh, unravelling the intricate web of interstate drug trafficking.

The police have also recovered another stock of Rs 9.80 lakh worth intoxicant tablets from a transportation vehicle near the Chandigarh

Railway Station, he said.
(editor@dailyworld.in)