Karachi police claim to unearth international meth supply network, arrest two

KARACHI: Police on Friday claimed to have unearthed an international narcotics network involved in the supply of ice — methamphetamine, also known as crystal meth — with the arrest of two of its members, including a woman.

Speaking at a press conference in Karachi, East Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Dr Farrukh Ali said Landhi police, acting on a tip-off, had arrested two suspected members of the network.

The police also recovered 19.56 kilograms of meth from their possession, he added.

The DIG said the suspects were in contact with a notorious Afghan drug dealer, Sabir Afghan.

“The held suspects belonged to an Afghanistan-linked network of drug dealers who supplied narcotics in Karachi and other parts of the country,” DIG Dr Ali claimed.

He alleged that it was an organised network that supplied drugs from Afghanistan through different routes to Lahore and other parts of Punjab, from where they were subsequently distributed to other parts of the country, including Karachi.

DIG Dr Ali said the “international network” was essentially a family-based cartel whose linchpin was a woman named Mehwish, who lived in Lahore.

“Mehwish used to supply high-quality ice from Afghanistan, which was then distributed throughout the country,” he said, adding that the arrested woman, was Mehwish’s sister-in-law.

The woman’s husband supplied the ice, while the wife distributed it to customers, the senior official claimed.

“This family consists of working- or middle-class people. One member of the cartelwas recently arrested by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF),” he said.

He said further investigation was under way to obtain information from the suspects about their drug network and accomplices.

In a lighter vein, DIG Dr Ali said the family-based cartel could be dubbed “Pinky Two”, as it had also maintained the same level of secrecy as Anmol, alias Pinky, who is currently facing trial in Karachi.

Anmol was arrested in May in connection with two cases registered at the Garden police station pertaining to the possession of drugs and an unlicensed weapon. She had already been booked in multiple other criminal cases prior to her arrest.

The incident gained attention when a video of her being escorted to court without handcuffs went viral on social media.

Since her arrest, Anmol has been presented in court amid heavy police presence. During her court appearances, she has also alleged that she has been facing pressure from the police “to take names” of politicians and other influential persons.

Earlier in the month, police also claimed to have recovered a huge quantity of ice and arrested eight suspects in an intelligence-based raid on a warehouse in Mehran Town in Korangi.