3 pharma firm owners linked to international drug syndicate held in Guj

A senior police officer familiar with the investigation said that the apprehended people have clear links to the previous cocaine busts in south and west Delhi

Investigators said on Monday that they have arrested the three owners of a pharmaceutical company, along with their two associates, in connection with a case where Delhi Police’s special cell and Gujarat Police seized a massive tranche of 518kg cocaine in a joint operation from a factory in Gujarat a day earlier.

Till now, police arrested 15 persons in connection with the syndicate. (Representational image)

A senior police officer familiar with the investigation said that the apprehended people have clear links to the previous cocaine busts in south Delhi and west Delhi in the past two weeks – establishing a complex drug smuggling nexus spanning several states and countries.

Sunday’s raid – at a manufacturing unit owned by Aavkar Drugs Pvt Ltd in Ankleshwar – led to the third bust in the past fortnight, taking the total amount of cocaine seized as part of the syndicate to almost 1,290kg. The first bust was on October 1 in Mahipalpur, where 562kg of cocaine was nabbed, while on October 10, officers recovered 208kg of cocaine packed discreetly in packets of “namkeen” in Ramesh Nagar.

The investigators cited above said that during the bust, they could “only” find cocaine bags, and there was “hardly” any stock of legal medicine at the factory — pointing to the possibility of the pharmaceutical company being a front for the narcotic racket. The factory, they said, was being used to refine and process the massive consignments of cocaine.

On Monday, DCP (special cell) Amit Kaushik said they arrested the company’s owners-directors Ashwani Ramani, Brijesh Kothiya and Vijay Bhesaniya. Two other men – Mayur Desale and Amit Bhai – were also arrested.

Till now, police arrested 15 persons in connection with the syndicate.

Police said Amit served as a “mediator” between the company and drug dealers, while Desale is an employee of a fake company called Pharma Solutions Services (PSS) Ltd. Police said the company was floated on the instructions of the syndicate’s main accused, Virender Baisoya.

Probe in the case revealed that the drug consignments were moved between states in the name of medical supply carrying the label of PSS.

“The accused created PSS to supply the drugs from the Gujarat factory to other states. The owners of the company (Aavkar) were in on this. The company dealt with pharmaceutical intermediates. They make half medicines/chemicals and send the materials to others to complete the drug composition. They used the same for their cocaine deals. The consignments would come from Dubai to Goa. At Ankleshwar, the drugs were refined and processed for consumption. They would then be sent in trucks or cars to Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and other states,” a senior investigator said.

The directors of Aavkar started the firm in 2016. As per reports, the company has a share capital of ₹2.5 crore. The men are also directors of a life science company operating from Ankleshwar and Vadodra.

The senior investigator said, “They would ensure all their drugs were packed with PSS labels for smuggling in NCR.”

A second investigator said the accused also hired graduates and MBA students to work for the brand. “They would use these graduates to get storage rooms and godowns in Ghaziabad, Hapur and other parts of Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. One of the employees, who was at a senior position, was detained. She revealed details of four consignments that were stored in Ghaziabad. They also used PSS’ name to get transporters and vehicles,” he said.

Police said it was after the second recovery in Ramesh Nagar that police found that the drugs were sold by a company named PSS and it came from Aavkar Drugs in Ankleshwar.

The second officer added: “We found the drugs were specifically taken to Aavkar for refining. Bhai was the middleman who arranged meetings between the owners-directors and the accused. Desale is head of production and supply at the firm.”

Senior police officers said the accused even created a website for PSS to look “legitimate”. The website is now not operational. Police said Aavkar’s senior management as well as staffers were involved in the syndicate.

“They had all the knowledge that cocaine was in their factory. In fact, there was no medicine or legal drugs there. They would earlier make pharma intermediates,” said another officer.