New Delhi: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has seized high-quality heroin originating from Afghanistan in Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh, and busted an international heroin racket, the agency said Thursday, calling it one of the “biggest hauls” in recent times.
Acting on a tip-off, the agency seized 50 kg of high-quality heroin, 47 kg of other suspected narcotics, Rs 30 lakh in cash, cash counting machines and other incriminating material from an apartment in Jamia Nagar, Shaheen Bagh Thursday. The price of the seized heroin, sources said, would be around Rs 300 crore in the international market.
Sanjay Kumar Singh, deputy director general, NCB, said, “The contraband was stored in travel bags, backpacks and jute sacks. The seized heroin originated from Afghanistan and the drug money is suspected to be channeled through hawala. The seized heroin was packed in Flipkart packages.”
Sources said that one man, a 40-year-old Indian national, has been arrested so far in the case. “He has other associates working together to collect and sell the contraband, mostly in the Punjab-Panipat region. He has been doing it for the past two years,” a source said.
“The individual (accused) ran a printing business and used the small apartment in Shaheen Bagh to store the drugs. His house is in Okhla,” added the source.
The kingpin of the racket, sources said, is an Indian national based in Dubai.
‘Indo-Afghan syndicate’
The NCB is conducting several raids to bust the entire alleged drug network. The agency said that investigations so far had revealed that “an Indo-Afghan syndicate” based in Delhi NCR and neighbouring states appears to be connected to the busted drug ring.
“These syndicates have expertise in manufacturing and adulterating heroin locally, and have been smuggling goods to India through maritime as well as land border routes wherein heroin was smuggled in with various legitimate goods,” DDG Singh said.
“Heroin is then later extracted from those goods by the Indian counterparts with the help of some Afghan nationals,” Singh said.
“The syndicate was found to be connected with drug traffickers of the entire northern region, including the states of Punjab, Haryana, UP, Uttarakhand and Delhi. Further investigation is on,” he added.
Also read: Delhi Police arrest suspended Manipur constable, ‘kingpin’ of interstate heroin cartel