Lahore’s anti-narcotics chief Mazhar Iqbal headed cross-border drug smuggling racket sending medication to India

Pakistan’s Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) has unearthed a serious drug-smuggling community working from Pakistan to India, revealing an surprising twist involving a senior regulation enforcement officer. Shockingly, the mastermind behind this illicit operation was none aside from Mazhar Iqbal, the chief of Lahore Police’s anti-narcotics unit. Under Mazhar Iqbal’s management, the community primarily employed drones to move narcotics, together with heroin, into India.

In a shocking flip of occasions, an inquiry panel, led by Lahore SSP Internal Accountability (IA), has uncovered quite a few “illegal” properties price billions of rupees allegedly linked to the accused police officer, Mazhar Iqbal, throughout a high-level investigation into the cross-border drug smuggling scheme.

It all began with a bribery case towards Mazhar Iqbal

The investigation initially started with the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) reserving Mazhar within the final week of August 2023 on fees of accepting a Rs75 million bribe from a drug smuggler named Ahmad, who was additionally implicated within the smuggling.

Mazhar Iqbal, a former deputy superintendent of police (DSP), and head of the Anti-Narcotics Investigation Unit (ANIU) throughout the Lahore police, was on the centre of this inquiry. The ANF had accused him of recovering 35 kg of medication and seizing three automobiles from Ahmad’s residence.

However, it was revealed that Mazhar had in the end launched Ahmad after registering a case for under 450 grams of medication. Subsequently, the three-member panel of cops initiated a departmental inquiry towards Mazhar, in the end unveiling his involvement in heading the cross-border drug smuggling operation via the usage of drones.

Mazhar Iqbal was a infamous prison in uniform

Starting from 1994, Iqbal has confronted dismissal from his place on six events and suspension a staggering 45 instances because of his repeated involvement in illegal actions. The majority of those instances are instantly linked to drug trafficking. Remarkably, regardless of his intensive historical past of misconduct, Iqbal was entrusted with a pivotal position within the Lahore Police’s anti-narcotics division.

As per statements from senior Pakistani police officers, Mazhar Iqbal has collected substantial wealth via his involvement in these illicit actions. The announcement relating to the dismantling of the drug smuggling community was made by the Pakistani Rangers final week. The Rangers reported the apprehension of six Indian nationals inside Pakistani territory on fees of purportedly trying to smuggle “narcotics, weapons, and ammunition.” Among the six detained smugglers, 4 people – Gurmeet Singh, Shinder Singh, Juginder Singh, and Vishal Jagga – hail from Firozpur in Punjab. Meanwhile, Rattan Pal Singh and Garvender Singh had been from Jalandhar and Ludhiana, respectively.

The investigations within the drug smuggling case

The authorities launched motion towards Mazhar Iqbal following the interrogation of the detained Indian nationals. Unfortunately, they had been unable to apprehend him because of a pre-arrest bail.

Lahore Deputy Inspector General (Investigation) Imran Kishwar mentioned, “An FIR has been registered against Lahore Police anti-narcotics wing head Mazhar Iqbal for his alleged involvement in the cross-border (India) smuggling of drugs through drones. We could not arrest him as he has secured a pre-arrest bail. We have constituted a high-powered committee of senior police officers to further expand the scope of the investigation into the illegal cross-border smuggling of drugs.”

In the preliminary investigations, it was discovered that Iqbal and his community facilitated the motion of medication from the Pakistani metropolis of Kasur to India through drones. The police investigation revealed {that a} drone employed by Mazhar Iqbal’s community had the capability to move as much as 6 kg of medication and would full its supply in Punjab after crossing the border. The inquiry additional disclosed that Mazhar Iqbal had participated within the transportation of greater than 30 kg of heroin to India utilizing drones and obtained cost for his providers in Dubai.

Numerous high-ranking officers had been reportedly cognizant of Mazhar Iqbal’s intensive engagement in cross-border prison actions. Allegedly, he employed monetary inducements to achieve their cooperation, and he additionally had the assist of influential political figures in Pakistan.

Mazhar Iqbal has collected belongings price billions of rupees, possesses an array of luxurious vehicles, and resides in a four-kanal residence positioned within the upscale Defence Housing Authority of Lahore. Additionally, he has a penchant for gathering firearms from numerous nations, with a selected curiosity in these from the United States.