DRI busts international syndicate, seizes 9.82 kg cocaine worth ₹100 crore

Interrogation of the arrested passengers and an analysis of the case data vis-à-vis records revealed that the said drugs were allegedly destined for a drug smuggling - trafficking syndicate based in Delhi and nearby areas, DRI sources said

MUMBAI: The Directorate of Revenue (DRI)’s Mumbai Zonal Unit busted an international narcotic trafficking syndicate and seized cocaine worth ₹100 crore in the illicit market, and arrested two members, including the mastermind from Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

DRI’s probe began on Saturday after the Mumbai unit seized 9.82 kg cocaine worth ₹100 crore from two alleged female carriers who arrived from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, of Thai and Indonesian nationality, respectively.

DRI’s probe began on Saturday after the Mumbai unit seized 9.82 kg cocaine worth ₹100 crore from two alleged female carriers who arrived from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, of Thai and Indonesian nationality, respectively.

Interrogation of the arrested passengers and an analysis of the case data vis-à-vis records revealed that the said drugs were allegedly destined for a drug smuggling - trafficking syndicate based in Delhi and nearby areas, DRI sources said.

While one of the DRI was stationed in the city to conduct surveillance and monitoring of the syndicate’s activities, another team was rushed to Delhi to apprehend the other key syndicate members, the sources said.

On specific intelligence, the DRI team laid a trap in Greater Noida with the help of local officers and identified the mastermind. During the operation, the mastermind allegedly ‘got violent and sprinted’ to escape, pushing aside the agency’s officers ‘with his full might’, a source said. In a dramatic chase, the DRI officers apprehended the Nigerian mastermind and his associate.

“The DRI officers, as well as the accused, got mildly injured during the chase,” the agency source said. The mastermind’s associate was the alleged purported receiver of the smuggled contraband, the source said. The probe showed that the syndicate’s tentacles are allegedly spread across Ethiopia, Sri Lanka and Nigeria, the sources said.

The four persons are arrested under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act of 1985.

“It is a major success in the efforts to curb the drug menace in India, in which the DRI officers knocked down an international drug smuggling syndicate operating and based in India,” the DRI source said.