Jaipur: Bikaner police Wednesday arrested the alleged mastermind of an international narcotics-arms syndicate and the prime accused in two major cross-border drone drops, including the Rs 75 crore heroin consignment recovered in Bikaner’s Pugal earlier this year and another in the district’s Khajuwala area Sunday.Bikaner superintendent of police Mridul Kachawa identified the accused as Rakesh Prajapat, who carried a cumulative Rs 75,000 reward announced by the state police.He said the district police had been searching for Prajapat ever since heroin worth Rs 50 crore, along with 11 foreign-made pistols and ammunition, was dropped in the Khajuwala area on Sunday.“Prajapat was also wanted in a case registered at Pugal police station under the NDPS Act. He was arrested after police intercepted him on the Amritsar-Jamnagar Expressway while he was allegedly travelling from Punjab towards Jodhpur following a tip-off,” Kachawa said.The SP said the accused had evaded arrest for the past 13 months by frequently changing his location, identity and mobile numbers. Police alleged that he operated under the aliases ‘Dubai King’ and ‘Sarkar Group’ on social media while remaining on the run across several states.Investigators said Prajapat met an international narcotics-arms syndicate while lodged in Faridkot jail in Punjab during 2024-25. After his release, he allegedly began coordinating cross-border consignments of heroin and illegal weapons, recruiting former associates with the promise of hefty payments to collect drone-dropped consignments near the India-Pakistan border and transport them onwards to Punjab.Police alleged that Prajapat masterminded the April drone drop involving heroin worth about Rs 75 crore in Pugal and the Khajuwala drone drop busted on Sunday, in which narcotics, foreign-made pistols and ammunition were smuggled across the international border.According to investigators, Prajapat led a lavish lifestyle while on the run, allegedly frequenting bars, clubs and pubs and financing his expenses through proceeds from drug and arms trafficking.Police said the accused has 22 criminal cases registered against him in Karnataka, Goa, Punjab and Rajasthan, and was wanted by police in Goa, Punjab, Pali, Beawar and Bikaner. He is being interrogated to identify other members of the syndicate, trace the cross-border network and establish links with Pakistan-based handlers.
