By: Vibhuti Pathak
The Organised Crime Unit (OCU) of Lahore police has busted an international gang, called the ‘Jordan Gang’. The gang included four members from the same family, their main clients were upper-class youth. As confirmed by OCU DIG Imran Kishwar, the team conducted extensive two-month intelligence surveillance, after which they successfully extracted the gang.
The ‘Jordan Gang’ headed by Ayub Khan, alias Jordan, included four members from the same family and operated from Central Asia, Mexico, the US and Canada. They were supplying highly expensive drugs in Lahore and Multan. They were also supplying drugs to selected students of universities and some other academic institutes.
The OCU, formerly known as the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA), unearthed the drug trafficking network. Kishwar also mentioned that the leader, Khan, was operating secretly, and nobody knew his true identity.
The team, led by SP Furqan Bilal, took the lead after some members of the Jordan Gang arrived in Pakistan. They recovered a huge cache of narcotics. The OCU special team managed to infiltrate Jordan’s network through a plan.
Multiple purchases were made to gain the trust of Jordan’s associates, leading to crucial breakthroughs in the investigation, the police officer said.
The efforts of the police culminated in a coordinated overnight raid on three locations in Phase VI of the DHA, resulting in the arrest of key members of the gang, including Muhammad Ali, Uzair, Muhammad Nadeem, Samina Iftikhar, and Fatima Zahra. However, Ayub Jordan is still at large as he is operating from Thailand.
“Internationally, illicit substances were smuggled through reputable courier services with the complicity of corrupt officials, while on the domestic front, the syndicate utilised online platforms and covert groups to facilitate the circulation of drugs within the country,” the DIG said.
Social media was used to make drug deals with the students and other citizens through fake IDs, and the gang was operating many bank accounts in the name of a woman suspect, Samina Iftikhar, and her son Uzair to obtain money. Iftikhar’s sons, Ayub Khan and Muhammad Ali were part of the team.
The team was able to retrieve a dozen bank accounts in the names of the members of the gang, and some officials of the police and General Post Office (GPO) were part of the marketing and supply networks of the ‘gang’, added Kishwar.
The DIG said Ayub Khan, alias Jordan, was living in Thailand along with his other family members, and Muhammad Ali and Uzair were his brothers. He added that Jordan had operated the network for the last 12 years to smuggle drugs into Pakistan from Canada, the USA, and Mexico.
The money earned through drug smuggling was spent on three villas by the gang in the DHA in the city, where they allegedly used to store and supply drugs in the provincial capital and other cities.
During the raid, police seized a huge cache of expensive drugs, a police officer said, adding that the seized drugs included 110kg weed, 130 vapes, 4 kg of cannabis, 4 kg of ice, 130 gms of cocaine, 5,500 packing materials, 9 CBD vapes, 9kg cannabis chocolates, 18 Vovo Packwoods, 21 element rolling tips, 11 nectar collector sets, and 17 Gorilla Glues.
The OCU also briefed Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz about the racket shortly after the breakthrough.
Additionally, DIG Kishwar said, the capture of nine armed guards showed the gang’s violent tendencies and organised structure.
Kishwar said the modus operandi employed by the drug traffickers was a sophisticated blend of international and domestic channels for drug procurement and distribution.
A comprehensive investigation is underway to trace the supply chain down to lower-level distributors and end-users. A further probe would shed light on the deeper connections and activities of the cartel, he said.
About the price of the seized drugs, CIA SP Furqan Bilal said the cost of 500 puffs of a drug recovered from the gang was £280.
