Eight held, 1.38kg smack and ₹3.72 crore cash seized in Delhi drug syndicate bust

The Delhi Police on Monday said they had busted an organised narcotics syndicate with the arrest of eight people and recovered 1

The Delhi Police on Monday said they had busted an organised narcotics syndicate with the arrest of eight people and recovered 1.383kg of smack (street name for heroin) and ₹3.72 crore in cash suspected to be proceeds from drug peddling.

The arrests and recoveries were made during raids in Delhi and Haryana’s Faridabad between Saturday and Sunday, police said.

The arrests and recoveries were made during raids in Delhi and Haryana’s Faridabad between Saturday and Sunday, police said.

The arrested men were identified as Gopi Singh, alleged to be a key stockist; his brother-in-law Sunit alias Nannhe, a supplier; Suman Pathak alias Maniya, an alleged intermediary; Kiran alias Ram Prasad, another supplier; Guddu, allegedly a transporter; Vicky Jha, who police said was part of the supply network; and peddlers Neeraj alias Thapa and Ashok alias Ramu. They are aged between 25 and 48, joint commissioner of police (southern range) Vijay Kumar said.

Police said the crackdown followed a nearly five-month investigation that began after two alleged peddlers, Abdullah, 22, and Karan, 18, were arrested by Okhla Industrial Area police with around 25 grams of smack on April 27. A case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act was registered.

Their interrogation led investigators to Kiran, who was allegedly a key supplier but was absconding at the time, Kumar said.

Kiran was later arrested by Govindpuri police. During interrogation, he allegedly led police to Neeraj and Ashok, from whom 15 grams of smack was recovered, deputy commissioner of police (southeast) Vineet Kumar said.

The two allegedly told investigators that after Kiran’s arrest, they began procuring drugs from Maniya. Further investigation led to the arrests of Maniya, Vicky and Guddu with 32 grams of smack, police said.

Maniya allegedly identified Faridabad-based Sunit as her supplier. Police subsequently arrested Sunit with 39 grams of smack and also arrested his brother-in-law Gopi.

During searches at their premises, police recovered another 1.296kg of smack and ₹3,71,98,560 in cash.

“The cash is suspected to represent proceeds generated through the illegal drug trade,” the DCP said.

Police said the income tax department had been informed about the cash recovery.