International drug cartel busted, four held with over 21 kilos of fine quality heroin

The anti-narcotics task force (ANTF) of the Delhi Police on Friday claimed to have busted an international drug trafficking racket operating out of Golden Crescent Region -- comprising Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan -- and seized over 21 kilograms of heroin estimated to worth several crores of rupees in the international market

The anti-narcotics task force (ANTF) of the Delhi Police on Friday claimed to have busted an international drug trafficking racket operating out of Golden Crescent Region -- comprising Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan -- and seized over 21 kilograms of heroin estimated to worth several crores of rupees in the international market.

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Four members of the syndicate, including an Afghan national, were arrested during a pan-India operation, officers of the ANTF said. Apart from the contraband, ₹26.53 lakh cash was also seized from them, the officers said.

One of the arrested men, identified as Parvez Alam,51, is an expert in manufacturing heroin by using precursors and goes by the moniker of “doctor”, said deputy commissioner of police (ANTF, crime branch) KPS Malhotra.

The Golden Crescent and Golden Triangle are two infamous narcotics domains in South Asia having proximity to India. Golden Crescent comprises Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran while Golden Triangle covers Thailand, Myanmar and Laos.

Malhotra said teams of ANTF -- the newly rechristened narcotics cell of the Delhi Police -- and the crime branch were deployed to gather actionable input on possible drug traffickers. Recently, the teams received information about an international syndicate and began working the leads.

On July 21, the team caught a 30-year-old Afghan national, Naseem Barkazy, from east Delhi’s Karkardooma, and seized 3 kilos of heroin from him. His interrogation revealed that he was part of an international drug trafficking ring and operated at the behest of his associates based in Afghanistan. He further disclosed that his associate -- Parvej Alam aka Doctor -- helped him cut the heroin.

Barkazy also disclosed that a large amount of the contraband was with Alam, the police said.

Accordingly, a search was conducted at Alam’s house in Bhajanpura and he was caught with 7.4 kilos of the contraband and ₹1.25 lakh cash. Further, drug sale proceeds of ₹4.53 lakh was recovered from a house in Vishwas Nagar, Shahdara, they added.

“Interrogation of the two men revealed that their nexus was spread across India and had deep roots in Punjab. Their accomplice, Shami Kumar alias Shami,32, had recently received a consignment of heroin for further distribution in Punjab. Our team raided Kumar’s hideout in Dabri and recovered 11 kilos of heroin and precursors (mixing chemicals), apart from ₹22 lakh in cash,” said Malhotra.

The police said that Kumar disclosed that he was working on the instructions of one Pankaj, who headed the syndicate’s operations in Punjab, and all finances were managed by one Rajat Gupta, who was also arrested on Thursday following raids.

From Gupta’s possession, six mobile phones and several incriminating documents related to the finances of the illegal trade were recovered, police said.

DCP Malhotra said the investigation has revealed that the syndicate has links with people abroad and their major source of supply is from Afghanistan, where opium is abundantly cultivated.

“They communicated via WhatsApp and other VOIP apps. Opium (in liquid form) is trafficked through various routes (air and sea) and received by the arrested Afghan national. It is then cut into heroin (in powder form) by Alam at his home. The fine quality contraband is then distributed to Punjab, Delhi and other states through their couriers and distributors,” the DCP added.

“The 21.400 kilos heroin that we have recovered is of superfine quality and its value in the international market is estimated to be around ₹130 crore,” said Malhotra.

A senior police officer from the special cell -- Delhi Police’s anti-terror unit that usually makes such big seizures -- said they value the seizure based on the kilogram rates of heroin given by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

“As per the website, one kilo of heroin is around ₹40 lakh at the point of sale (the processed and cut form). The drug has to pass through six or seven channels to reach India. Drug dealers have to bear 30% to 40% illicit value addition on the actual rate at each channel. Eventually, when the contraband reaches India, it costs many times more than what it did in the raw form, depending on quality,” the officer said.