AMRITSAR — The Amritsar Commissionerate Police achieved a significant breakthrough by dismantling a cross-border illegal arms trafficking network. In a coordinated operation, security forces arrested five suspects and detained one juvenile, recovering a cache of sophisticated weaponry smuggled from across the border. The crackdown is part of an ongoing “zero-tolerance” campaign by the Punjab Police against organized crime and international weapon smuggling.
The recovery includes five high-end pistols of various calibres, notably a Pakistan-made Gretta 9mm, a Glock 9mm, a PX5 .30 Bore, a Taurus 9mm, and an additional .30 Bore pistol. Along with the firearms, police seized 34 live cartridges and a sharp-edged weapon. Preliminary investigations conducted by the Amritsar police revealed that the accused were in direct contact with Pakistan-based arms smugglers through encrypted social media platforms. These digital links were reportedly used to coordinate the delivery of weapon consignments and their subsequent distribution to various criminal elements across the state.
An FIR has been formally registered under the Arms Act at the Maqboolpura Police Station in Amritsar. Senior officials stated that the investigation is now focused on identifying the “forward and backward linkages” of the module to trace the end-users of these weapons and the exact points of entry along the international border. “Our teams are working to dismantle the entire network that facilitates these illegal shipments,” a spokesperson for the Punjab Police confirmed.
This latest operation comes amid heightened security across the border districts of Punjab, where the use of drones and social media for arms and narcotic smuggling has become a growing challenge. The Amritsar Commissionerate has intensified its surveillance of suspicious social media activity and is collaborating with central intelligence agencies to neutralize similar sleeper cells involved in cross-border trafficking.
