India, Dec. 19 -- An international narcotics cartel, smuggling drugs to the USA from Pakistan via India, was busted after its alleged kingpin was arrested from Tarn Taran in Punjab, police said on Thursday.

The suspect, identified as Lakhbir Singh, 23, is a resident of Kot Data village in Tarn Taran, which is hardly 4km from the India-Pakistan international border from where the drugs were being smuggled. A crime branch team had arrested Singh from near his village on Tuesday night and had kept him in three-day police remand.

"He has a few more associates working for him in India who are yet to be caught. He deleted all the data on his mobile phone by formatting it. Attempts will be made to recover them with the help of forensic experts...