Jalandhar, March 26 -- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a chargesheet under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, against 18 entities and individuals, including Pakistani and Afghan nationals, in the case related to the seizure of 584kg of heroin at Attari check point in Amritsar. The chargesheet was filed before a special PMLA court in Mohali on Monday. The ED investigations into the money-laundering stem from the FIRs registered by Punjab Police and NIA under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Arms Act, the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, and the Official Secrets Act in June 2019. In the June 2019 operation, the Customs Department, Amritsar, had seized one of the biggest hauls of 532 kg of suspected heroin and 52 kg of suspected mixed narcotics at Attari ICP, Amritsar. Two persons, Tariq Ahmed Lone, a resident of Handwara, Jammu and Kashmir, and Gurpinder Singh, a resident of Amritsar, were arrested in the case. The consignment was hidden under bags of salt in the truck, which had come from Pakistan. The federal agency investigation revealed that 890 kg of heroin and 52 kg of mixed narcotics were smuggled from Pakistan through the Land Customs Station at Attari, Amritsar, by concealing them within imported bags of light pink rock salt. "Sahil, Shoiab Noor, and Amir Noor (conspirators from Pakistan and Afghanistan) exported these concealed drugs and specific bags containing the narcotics were marked with a cross symbol or designated numbers. To disguise the narcotics shipments as legitimate international trade, the suppliers from Pakistan and Afghanistan routed funds into India via illicit hawala channels," the ED probe found. The ED added that their associates collected these hawala funds from local operators, deposited them into their own bank accounts and subsequently transferred the same to the accounts of Indian entities, which were used to pay off Indian Customs duties, port charges and formally remit payments back to Pakistani exporters, thereby successfully disguising the movement of narcotics as legal business activity. "After clearance, consignments were stored in temporary godowns and subsequently transported to a final distribution godown, where habitual narcotics dealers Ranjit Singh alias Rana and Iqbal Singh received the drugs for further distribution and sold these drugs further and generated Proceeds of Crime (PoC)," the ED said in the chargesheet. Ranjit Singh alias Cheeta, who was arrested in May 2020, was a big fish in the network allegedly controlled by Pakistan's ISI. Cheeta was alleged to have had links with slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander Riyaz Ahmad Naikoo, who was killed by security forces in Kashmir in 2020. Investigation revealed that the seized consignment (of 532 kg of heroin and 52 kg mixed narcotics) was the sixth consignment sent by Pakistani smugglers. "Earlier, five more consignments were received, totalling 358kg and were sold by the accused persons, generating PoC to the tune of Rs.8.60 crore as part of their commission," the ED said....