Delhi: 3 held with heroin worth ₹45 crore

New Delhi: Delhi Police arrested three men and recovered over eight kilograms of heroin, worth ₹45 crore in the international market, from their possession in two separate incidents in the Capital

New Delhi: Delhi Police arrested three men and recovered over eight kilograms of heroin, worth ₹45 crore in the international market, from their possession in two separate incidents in the Capital.

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In the first incident, the special cell of Delhi police, acting on a tip-off, arrested two men, including a Nigerian national, from Mukarba Chowk bus stand and recovered 6.2 kilograms of heroin, with a market value of ₹40 crore, from their possession. Police said the two are active members of international narcotic drugs syndicate and were on their way to supply the drugs in Punjab’s Ludhiana.

Deputy commissioner of police (special cell) Jasmeet Singh said the two accused -- identified as Rakesh Kumar (37), alias Rocky, and Obumuneme Nwachukwu (47), a Nigerian national who was out on bail in another drugs case -- were arrested on Friday. “The arrested Nigerian is the kingpin of this drug syndicate, who used to supply drugs in Punjab and Delhi, besides other countries, through courier companies. He was previously convicted for 20 years with a fine of ₹2 lakh in a drugs case investigated by Narcotics Control Bureau (Delhi zone) in 2012,” he said, adding that 4kg of heroin was recovered from Rocky and the remaining from Nwachukwu.

“Value of the recovered heroin is more than ₹40 crore in the international market. The NCB has caught Nwachukwu and his two associates, with 1.7 kilograms of heroin, in 2012. All the three accused of that case were convicted by the court in that case in 2018, with 20 years’ imprisonment and fine of ₹2 lakh. Nwachukwu remained in jail for eight years in that case, before getting the bail from the Delhi high court in February 2020,” he said.

Singh also said that a case under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act has been registered against both the accused. “Their further interrogation is on to identify other backward and forward linkages of the syndicate in Delhi and Punjab,” he added.

In the second case, a team of narcotics cell of Outer North district on Tuesday arrested a drug dealer from a place near Shahabad dairy and seized two kilograms of heroin worth ₹5 crore in the international market.

DCP (outer north) Brijendra Kumar Yadav identified the accused as Rajeev Gupta (57), who originally hails from Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior. “During questioning, it was revealed that the accused indulged in supply of crude (premature stage of heroin) as well Acitic Anhydride (chemical used for manufacturing heroin) and Alprazolam raw material, after procuring them from Jharkhand and Gwalior for supply in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. We are also analysing his call details and WhatsApp chats, to identify the sources as well receivers of the contraband,” he said.

He further said a case under section 21 of the NDPS Act has been registered against the accused at the Shahbad Dairy police station.