Wanted by US probe agency, drug lord in Punjab Police net

Oversaw drug movement from Colombia to Canada and US via Mexico, fled to India after FBI crackdown

- Ravinder Vasudeva & Surjit Singh

AMRITSAR/CHANDIGARH: Punjab Police have arrested Shehnaz Singh alias Shawn Bhinder, 43, an international drug dealer wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), police chief Gaurav Yadav said on Monday.

Punjab director general of police (DGP) Yadav added that Shawn is a key player in the global narcotics syndicate and was arrested by Tarn Taran police.

As per police, Shawn graduated from a college in Batala and moved to Canada in 2014 where he started a trucking business and used to smuggle consignments under the guise of a legitimate transportation business in Canada.

Overseeing the movement of drugs from Colombia to the US and Canada via Mexico was his main task and after the crackdown by the FBI, Shawn managed clandestinely to land in India in the first week of March and was residing in Ludhiana, DGP Yadav informed in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Punjab-origin drug lord is counted as "one of the most brutal and criminal drug lord".

Known as 'Shawn Bhinder' in the world of drug smuggling, he is a native of Mandiala village in Batala and had been residing in Brampton in Canada on permanent residency (PR).

He is wanted by the FBI in one of the largest drug seizures in the USA on February 26, 2025.