Online courier services: Drug trafficking network operation busted

RAWALPINDI: The Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) has unearthed a highly organized drug trafficking network operating through the Online Courier services and arrested five accused involved in the heinous crime, said an ANF Headquarters spokesman on Sunday.

The ANF team arrested an accused Zahid ur Rehman from Nowshera who had booked 11 drug-laden parcels for different cities.

The drug-laden parcels were seized on March 25 and 26 and April 7, out of the parcels which were being sent to different cities, 5.7 kg of hashish, 200 grams’ ice, 120 ecstasy pills, 150 grams opium, fake currency and a 30 bore pistol were also recovered from Zahidur Rehman’s possession.

The ANF, on the information given by the arrested accused Zahidur Rehman about the shipment of drug smuggler Muhammad Younis from Sialkot arrested three accused red-handed near Haji Camp Peshawar besides nabbing the employee of the courier office involved in facilitating the accused.

The ANF recovered two kg of hashish from the possession of the accused, and during the investigation, it was found that the accused were involved in inter-provincial drug trafficking.

The accused obtained drugs from Bara and other areas and transported them through courier services.

The ANF, while accelerating its crackdown against drug smuggling through online courier networks, urged Courier services to tighten the surveillance of suspicious parcels and cooperate with ANF, as digital drug trafficking networks were a threat to national security.

Cases have been registered against the arrested accused under the Narcotics Control Act, and further investigations are underway.