Ludhiana: An Ayurvedic doctor and his friend are arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle drugs and intoxicating pills to Canada through courier.
The accused made two packages of packed food items and hid contrabands in it. However, the contrabands were detected in the scanning.
Based on the information provided by the courier company, the police arrested the duo, identified as Neeraj Chahal and Dimple Thapar alias Dimple of Noormahal in Jalandhar.
Chahal claimed himself to be an Ayurvedic doctor, while Thapar works in an educational institute.
Sub-inspector Amritpal Singh stated that the accused brought two packages at a courier company at Shingar Cinema Road to send the same to Ontario, Canada. When scanned, the courier company employees detected the contrabands and Jatinderjit Singh, owner of the courier company, informed the police.
“We found a total of 10 kg poppy husk, 750 gm opium and 4,600 intoxicating pills from two packages. We lodged an FIR under sections 15, 18, 22, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act against the accused and initiated investigation. The police on Saturday arrested the accused,” the SHO said.
“During questioning, we recovered more 6.35 kg poppy husk and a car used in the crime from the accused. During questioning, Chahal stated that he had a flight on Saturday for Canada and was supposed to receive the package himself in Ontario,” he added.
The SHO added that Chahal has a travel history and had travelled to different countries. The police are investigating to know for how long they are into drug peddling and to whom they send the contrabands.
A local court on Sunday remanded the accused in two-day police custody.
Not the first case
On January 17, a Ferozepur resident was booked by Sahnewal for allegedly trying to smuggle drugs to Canada in a courier package.
On December 21, 2023, the Ludhiana police had arrested a man linked to a gang involved in an online fraud being operated from foreign land. The accused had procured at least 198 SIM cards using fake identities, but was caught in the attempt to send the same to the gang through courier.
On November 9, 2023, a resident of Gill village made a failed bid to smuggle opium, hidden in a Punjabi sweet delicacy, to Canada through courier. The X-Ray machine detected the contraband during scanning, after which the courier company employees informed the Sahnewal Police.
