New Delhi, May 21 (PTI) A 48-year-old man was arrested in south west Delhi for exporting banned drugs and foreign cigarettes disguised in boxes of clothes and spices to countries like the UAE, Australia, and the United States, an official said Wednesday.
The accused, Sanjay Kumar, was working in collaboration with his elder brother, Pramod Pandey, who is currently based in Dubai and wanted in other cases.
Kumar allegedly smuggled the contraband using international courier services under the guise of cargo shipments, the police said.
“Sanjay and his associates used encrypted internet applications to communicate with Pramod Pandey. The group allegedly exported the banned substances disguised in boxes of clothes and spices to countries like the UAE, Australia, and the United States,” Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (South West) Aishwarya Singh said.
Kumar was arrested on May 11 outside his warehouse. A subsequent search of the premises revealed large quantities of pharmaceutical drugs and foreign cigarettes stashed in cartons.
The police seized 66,600 tablets of Alprazolam and 16,490 tablets of Zolpidem- both banned substances under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
“In addition, 26,000 packets of imported cigarettes lacking legal health warnings or MRP, as required under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), were recovered from a premises in West Mehram Nagar,” Singh stated.
Kumar was arrested in 2011 by the Narcotics Control Bureau in Delhi and later by narcotics authorities in Mumbai.
He returned to Delhi early this year and resumed the illegal operations with the help of his brother and another associate, Joginder, who is also wanted in the case.
A case under sections of the NDPS and COTPA has been registered at the Delhi Cantt police station, the officer said, adding that investigation is underway to trace other associates and the bigger supply network. PTI SSJ SSJ MPL MPL
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