New Delhi: What started as a local heroin investigation in Delhi’s Rohini district led police to what they described as an inter-state narcotics syndicate operating across Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Manipur, with links extending to the Myanmar border.
Nine people have been arrested, and heroin and crude opium worth around Rs 16 crore have been seized. “These are interstate players,” DCP, Rohini District, Shashank Jaiswal said Friday.
The operation unfolded in over a month as investigators began uncovering links of multiple accused spread across states. “The entire racket has been going on for over five years. However, the involvement of (accused) Sameer and Ashish has been for a year,” Jaiswal said.
The first major breakthrough came 17 April, when police arrested Sameer Ahmed, 21, from Nand Nagri with 300 grams of heroin. The motorcycle allegedly used to transport the narcotics was also seized. Investigators said Sameer worked as a delivery driver of cosmetic items in the Sadar area.
The same day, Ashish Soni, 29, was arrested from Loni in Ghaziabad, who had previously worked as a delivery person. “He was making merely Rs 400 per day. He became a drug dealer to earn more money,” Jaiswal said.
The investigation then led the police to Manoj Soni, 30, from Nand Nagri, who was arrested on 18 April with 57 grams of heroin. Police identified him as the source supplier for Sameer and Ashish.
The trail then led the police to Tilak Nagar in Delhi. On 21 April, Sandhya, 30, was arrested with 278 grams of heroin. According to the police, she was part of a family-based drug trafficking syndicate.
Her husband, Vicky Aakash, is lodged in jail in an NDPS case and has previously been involved in 16 criminal cases. Her mother-in-law, Seema, is also lodged in jail in an NDPS case, the police said.
The investigation soon expanded into Uttar Pradesh. On 7 May, acting on Sandhya’s disclosures, police arrested 51-year-old Mehnaz Bezi with 58 grams of heroin in Bareilly. The police described her as an active supplier in the Bareilly region and an important link in the interstate heroin chain.
Five days later, another raid in Shahjahanpur led to the arrest of Yunus Khan, 28, who was allegedly found carrying 578 grams of heroin. Police said he had two previous NDPS cases and was a major interstate heroin supplier.
On 17 May, police arrested Sabir, 40, from Barabanki with 300 grams of heroin. According to police, he had previously been involved in an NDPS case and was an active member of the syndicate.
During interrogation, Yunus Khan allegedly revealed that he procured opium from Manipur and refined it at his residence to prepare heroin for supply in Delhi-NCR.
The Manipur & Myanmar link
On 20 May, a team travelled to Manipur to trace the source of the narcotics. After conducting surveillance and raids in multiple areas, police intercepted two men who had allegedly arrived in a Bolero vehicle to deliver crude opium.
The accused were identified as Mohhamed Istafam, 28, from Manipur’s Thoubal district, and Phundreimayum Amjad Ali, 34, from Lilong. “Amjad’s father-in-law and Yunus were in jail together,” Jaiswal said.
The police said 506 grams of crude opium were recovered from the gearbox cavity of the vehicle. It was raw latex extracted from the opium poppy with the potential to produce approximately 1.5 to 2 kilograms of heroin.
The Bolero allegedly used to transport the crude opium was seized.
According to the police, the syndicate sourced narcotics from areas near the Myanmar border. “Istafam and Amjad were getting their supply from a woman named Kim from Moreh, on the border of Myanmar,” Jaiswal said.
The members of the network would travel by flight to Imphal and then use buses and trains after taking delivery to avoid detection. “They would take half of the payment in one delivery and the second half of the payment in the next delivery,” Jaiswal said.
The police also claimed to have busted a factory in Uttar Pradesh’s Hapur, allegedly involved in manufacturing substances used to prepare heroin from crude opium.
(Edited by Tony Rai)