Delhi Police seize licorice root soaked with heroin from Navi Mumbai port

Police officials aware of the matter said the recovered narcotic was to be brought to Delhi for extraction and further distribution.

The special branch of the Delhi Police has seized 20,000 kg of licorice root soaked in around 345 kg of heroin from a container at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in Navi Mumbai, officials aware of the matter said, adding that the recovered narcotic was to be brought to Delhi for extraction and further distribution.

Police officer guarding a container that was seized from Delhi Police Nhava Sheva port in Mumbai, containing heroin 22 tonnes of licorice coated with heroin. The consignment is worth Rs1500 crore, police said. (ANI photo)

Hargobinder Singh Dhaliwal, special commissioner of police (special cell), said the interrogation of Afghan nationals Mustafa Stanikzai and Rahimullah Rahimi, who were arrested on September 3 with 312.5 kg of methamphetamine and 10 kg of high-purity heroin, revealed a transnational narcotic trade being routed into India through different countries.

“Both the accused were put on the available technical and human intelligence. Our continuous efforts led to information about a consignment of licorice roots, which was stored at Jawaharlal Nehru port. It was revealed that 17 bags containing 20,000 kg of licorice root soaked with at least 345 kilograms of heroin worth ₹1750 crore in the international market have been concealed there. To verify this information, a search warrant of the consignment was obtained from the court and on September 16, a team of our officials located those bags. Our officials started checking every stick of the consignment and it was found that the colour of some of the sticks of licorice root was darker than the others. After the nightlong exercise, the team was finally able to detect heroin in all the sticks, which were darker in colour,” Dhaliwal said.

Deputy commissioner of police (special cell) Pramod Kushwah, who led this operation, said the concealed contraband is generally transported in containers to the port of a neighbouring country, from where it arrives at different Indian ports.

“This time, the consignment was first transported from Afghanistan to a neighbouring country, from where it was shipped to a Middle East country to avoid detection by the agencies. From there, the consignment containing the contraband, blended with legitimate import goods, was further shipped to JNPT. This consignment was supposed to reach to makeshift factories based in Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Delhi, Haryana and other states at opportune time for its further extraction or processing to get the final product of heroin,” Kushwah said.

Another officer of the special cell, asking not to be named, said the consignment was sent by one Ahmad Shah, an Afghan national based in Pakistan. “He sent that consignment to Mohammad Masood, an Afghani exporter, who later handed it over to one Shahid Rajaei at an Iranian port. It was learnt from the arrested accused (Mustafa and Rahimi) that the last recipient of this consignment was one Swinder Singh of Shivpuri (Madhya Pradesh). But it was seized before reaching its destination,” he said.

The officer further said that Rahimi received altogether 16 bags, including nine bags of methamphetamine from one Mohammad Gufran of Lucknow, on the directions of Afghanistan-based narcotic dealer Haji Sardar. “Rahimiu disclosed that Gufran’s brother Mohammad Salman and one Hussain Irani are drug agents in Delhi and the kingpin of their cartel is one Mir Hamza, an Afghan national,” he said.