21kg of heroin seized from car at IIA

Catch described as largest in the new airport’s history

RAWALPINDI:

Authorities stepped on the largest heroin seizures at the Islamabad International Airport (IIA) on Thursday.

Airport Security Force (ASF) seized a vehicle loaded with huge cache of drugs from the Islamabad International Airport (IIA). The quantity of recovered heroin was measured to be some 21 kilogrammes.

The ASF officials took the driver into custody and handed him over to the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) for investigation.

The suspect, Muhammad Ami hails from Khyber Agency.

According to IIA officials, ASF personnel stopped a white car on suspicion that entered the airport through the main gate.

Upon checking, six black packets containing powdered heroin were found from the rear portion of the vehicle. ASF officials summoned ANF officials and handed over the suspect to them.

Further, ANF has launched a widespread investigation to find traces of the racket behind drug smuggling through the air as well as the location where the seized drugs were to be smuggled.

Sources in ANF said that they were probing into the matter keeping in view different aspects.

It is notable that several such attempts have been made in the past where drugs were smuggled from IIA and other airports through alleged connivance of the airlines staff and other institutions.

ANF in 2017 had foiled a bid to smuggle 20kg of heroin from a Heathrow-bound airplane at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport (BBIA) just before its take-off.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 11^th, 2020.