NEW DELHI: With the arrest of an Amritsar resident, Delhi Police Crime Branch has unearthed the main link to the Afghanistan-Punjab drugs nexus that was busted last month.
Anti-narcotics task force (ANTF) unit of the Delhi Police crime branch has arrested Pankaj Vaid alias Sanju Baba, who the police described as the “main link” between heroin cartel operators based in Afghanistan.
He was the single point contact person for supplying heroin in Punjab after procuring the drug from drug peddlers in Delhi, said ANTF DCP KPS Malhotra on Saturday, adding that identification of local drug peddlers is underway.
Last month, the ANTF recovered 21.4 kg of fine quality heroin value at Rs 130 crore in the international market and arrested four people including an Afghan national.
After the arrest of his associates, Vaid went underground and started changing his hideouts very frequently.
Working on human and technical intelligence, the police conducted simultaneous raids were conducted in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.
Finally, he was arrested in Himachal Pradesh. Two cars – Honda City and Glenza – were recovered from his possession.
During interrogation, cops found that Vaid came in touch with drug peddlers linked to Afghanistan when he was in Amritsar jail in a theft and arms case. He started working with them after coming out of jail.
Vaid is a habitual offender and is wanted in a case registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in Jammu.
The police also revealed that Vaid had a huge consignment of heroin which he destroyed as he changed his locations to avoid arrest.
Cops have identified six properties of him in different parts of India that was allegedly acquired through the drug proceeds.