{"id":536944,"date":"2026-03-17T04:18:45","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T23:18:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/?p=536944"},"modified":"2026-03-17T04:18:45","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T23:18:45","slug":"drug-trafficker-arrested-narcotics-illegal-weapon-recovered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/drug-trafficker-arrested-narcotics-illegal-weapon-recovered\/","title":{"rendered":"Drug trafficker arrested, narcotics , illegal weapon recovered"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>CHICHAWATNI: The police on Monday apprehended a high-profile drug trafficker  following a violent late-night shootout in Shahkot area. The police officials say the confrontation began when a police team launched a targeted raid to apprehend the suspect. Upon arrival, the suspect and several accomplices opened fire on the police before attempting to retreat into nearby fields. The police returned fire in self-defense during the brief, intense exchange, they added. When the gunfire ceased, the team conducting a search of the perimeter and arrested a suspect, identified as Mazhar Iqbal, wounded on the ground. The police team also seized  hashish 1.5 kilograms and illegal 30 bore pistol. Iqbal, a known repeat offender with a long criminal record for narcotics trafficking, was transported to a local hospital under heavy guard, the police said. While his accomplices managed to escape into the darkness, a massive police search operation remained underway to track them down, they added. APP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CHICHAWATNI: The police on Monday apprehended a high-profile drug trafficker following a violent late-night shootout in Shahkot area. The police officials say the confrontation began when a police team launched a targeted raid to apprehend the suspect. Upon arrival, the suspect and several accomplices opened fire on the police before attempting to retreat into nearby [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-536944","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Drug trafficker arrested, narcotics , illegal weapon recovered<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/drug-trafficker-arrested-narcotics-illegal-weapon-recovered\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Drug trafficker arrested, narcotics , illegal weapon recovered\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"CHICHAWATNI: The police on Monday apprehended a high-profile drug trafficker following a violent late-night shootout in Shahkot area. The police officials say the confrontation began when a police team launched a targeted raid to apprehend the suspect. Upon arrival, the suspect and several accomplices opened fire on the police before attempting to retreat into nearby [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/drug-trafficker-arrested-narcotics-illegal-weapon-recovered\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Daily Lead Pakistan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DailyLeadPak\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-16T23:18:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Web Desk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@DailyLeadPak\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@DailyLeadPak\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Web Desk\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/drug-trafficker-arrested-narcotics-illegal-weapon-recovered\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/drug-trafficker-arrested-narcotics-illegal-weapon-recovered\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Web Desk\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6ef8309590ff620a99ce35559f54fd62\"},\"headline\":\"Drug trafficker arrested, narcotics , illegal weapon recovered\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-16T23:18:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/drug-trafficker-arrested-narcotics-illegal-weapon-recovered\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":159,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Top News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/drug-trafficker-arrested-narcotics-illegal-weapon-recovered\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/drug-trafficker-arrested-narcotics-illegal-weapon-recovered\\\/\",\"name\":\"Drug trafficker arrested, narcotics , illegal weapon recovered\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-16T23:18:45+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/drug-trafficker-arrested-narcotics-illegal-weapon-recovered\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/drug-trafficker-arrested-narcotics-illegal-weapon-recovered\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/drug-trafficker-arrested-narcotics-illegal-weapon-recovered\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Drug trafficker arrested, narcotics , illegal weapon recovered\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Daily Lead Pakistan\",\"description\":\"Daily Lead Pakistan\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Daily lead Pakistan\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/04\\\/logo3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/04\\\/logo3.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":154,\"caption\":\"Daily lead Pakistan\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/DailyLeadPak\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/DailyLeadPak\",\"https:\\\/\\\/instagram.com\\\/DailyLeadPak\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6ef8309590ff620a99ce35559f54fd62\",\"name\":\"Web Desk\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/41f05ebf0a510062a26cf1d9e662155a6901c6733aa66a6c0f61daea3d680dc7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/41f05ebf0a510062a26cf1d9e662155a6901c6733aa66a6c0f61daea3d680dc7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/41f05ebf0a510062a26cf1d9e662155a6901c6733aa66a6c0f61daea3d680dc7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Web Desk\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/author\\\/edt\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Drug trafficker arrested, narcotics , illegal weapon recovered","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/drug-trafficker-arrested-narcotics-illegal-weapon-recovered\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Drug trafficker arrested, narcotics , illegal weapon recovered","og_description":"CHICHAWATNI: The police on Monday apprehended a high-profile drug trafficker following a violent late-night shootout in Shahkot area. The police officials say the confrontation began when a police team launched a targeted raid to apprehend the suspect. Upon arrival, the suspect and several accomplices opened fire on the police before attempting to retreat into nearby [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/drug-trafficker-arrested-narcotics-illegal-weapon-recovered\/","og_site_name":"Daily Lead Pakistan","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DailyLeadPak\/","article_published_time":"2026-03-16T23:18:45+00:00","author":"Web Desk","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@DailyLeadPak","twitter_site":"@DailyLeadPak","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Web Desk","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/drug-trafficker-arrested-narcotics-illegal-weapon-recovered\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/drug-trafficker-arrested-narcotics-illegal-weapon-recovered\/"},"author":{"name":"Web Desk","@id":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/6ef8309590ff620a99ce35559f54fd62"},"headline":"Drug trafficker arrested, narcotics , illegal weapon recovered","datePublished":"2026-03-16T23:18:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/drug-trafficker-arrested-narcotics-illegal-weapon-recovered\/"},"wordCount":159,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Top News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/drug-trafficker-arrested-narcotics-illegal-weapon-recovered\/","url":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/drug-trafficker-arrested-narcotics-illegal-weapon-recovered\/","name":"Drug trafficker arrested, narcotics , illegal weapon recovered","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-03-16T23:18:45+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/drug-trafficker-arrested-narcotics-illegal-weapon-recovered\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/drug-trafficker-arrested-narcotics-illegal-weapon-recovered\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/drug-trafficker-arrested-narcotics-illegal-weapon-recovered\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Drug trafficker arrested, narcotics , illegal weapon recovered"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/","name":"Daily Lead Pakistan","description":"Daily Lead Pakistan","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/#organization","name":"Daily lead Pakistan","url":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/logo3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/logo3.jpg","width":1000,"height":154,"caption":"Daily lead Pakistan"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DailyLeadPak\/","https:\/\/x.com\/DailyLeadPak","https:\/\/instagram.com\/DailyLeadPak\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/6ef8309590ff620a99ce35559f54fd62","name":"Web Desk","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/41f05ebf0a510062a26cf1d9e662155a6901c6733aa66a6c0f61daea3d680dc7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/41f05ebf0a510062a26cf1d9e662155a6901c6733aa66a6c0f61daea3d680dc7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/41f05ebf0a510062a26cf1d9e662155a6901c6733aa66a6c0f61daea3d680dc7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Web Desk"},"url":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/author\/edt\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=536944"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":536962,"href":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536944\/revisions\/536962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=536944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=536944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}