The police in Punjab’s Tarn Taran said Monday they have arrested Shehnaz Singh, also known as Shawn Bhinder, an Indian-origin international drug lord wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), amidst their ongoing anti-drugs campaign.
Gaurav Yadav, Director General of Police, Punjab, said Shawn Bhinder, a native of the Mandiala village in Batala who was living in Canada’s Brampton, was wanted by FBI in one of the largest drug seizures in the US on February 26, 2025. Yadav said Bhinder was a key player in a global narcotics syndicate, smuggling cocaine from Colombia into the US and Canada.
FBI had arrested six of his associates in the US and seized 391 kg methamphetamine, 109 kg cocaine, four sophisticated weapons and vehicles from their possession on February 26. The six have been identified as Amritpal Singh alias Amrit alias Bal, Amritpal Singh alias Cheema, Taqdeer Singh alias Romi, Sarabjit Singh Saabi, Fernando Valladares alias Franco, and Gurlal Singh.
Yadav said after the FBI crackdown, Bhinder managed to give a slip and clandestinely landed in India, adding that the Punjab Police tracked and arrested him from the jurisdiction of Ludhiana.
The top police officer said Bhinder was also wanted in an Arms Act case registered in December 2024, wherein the Tarn Taran police arrested five members of the Jaggu Bhagwanpuria and Amritpal Batth gang leading to the recovery of a significant cache of arms and ammunition from their possession.
Swapan Sharma, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Ferozepur Range, accompanied by Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Tarn Taran Abhimanyu Rana, said preliminary investigations show that Shawn Bhinder played a key role in transporting large consignments of drugs across international borders using trucks and trailers.
Sharma said they found during interrogation that Bhinder, operating under the guise of a legitimate transportation business in Canada since 2014, allegedly facilitated the movement of drugs from Colombia to the US and Canada via Mexico. The probe also revealed that Bhinder along with his accomplices was transporting approximately 600 kg of cocaine from Colombia every week, he added.
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Rana said Bhinder’s network is believed to have ties with notorious drug traffickers, including Amritpal Singh alias Baath and Gurjant Singh Bholu Havelia. Further investigations are on, he added.
Over the past four months, the Tarn Taran police have registered 125 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, arrested 145 people and recovered 34 kg heroin, 4 kg opium and Rs 2.29 lakh drug money. As many as 29 proclaimed offenders in the cases of the NDPS Act have also been apprehended during this period.
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