Five more arrested in Ketamine, Viagra smuggling case

The contraband material and the banned medicine were being smuggled to Australia and UK by courier, police officials said, adding that they suspect the involvement of some more persons in the smuggling racket and are looking for them

MUMBAI: The anti-extortion cell (ACE) of the crime branch has arrested five more accused in the Ketamine and Viagra smuggling case. Earlier, AEC arrested two persons after raiding the office of a courier office in Andheri East and allegedly seized 15 kilograms of Ketamine and 23,000 tablets of Viagra, worth around ₹8 crore.

Five more arrested in Ketamine, Viagra smuggling case

The contraband material and the banned medicine were being smuggled to Australia and UK by courier, police officials said, adding that they suspect the involvement of some more persons in the smuggling racket and are looking for them.

The police officer said they have issued Look Out Circulars (LOC) against three of the wanted accused, including Danish Mulla and Kailash Rajput, who has several cases against him related to narcotics and is believed to be major drug suppliers, said an official.

The two arrested earlier – identified by police only as Rane and Hasim - are into courier service and run an office under the name ‘Shree Swami Samarth advertisement’ in Andheri East. During investigation officials learnt that the accused procured Ketamine from Gujarat.

During interrogation the duo revealed involvement of other accused and based on the information provided by them the police on Monday arrested Vikas Gupta and Nitesh Yadav. Gupta worked as a driver and Yadav worked in the courier shop. Rane and Hasim wrapped the party drugs into small packets and handed the same over to Yadav and Gupta who delivered the consignment to clearing agents at the airport cargo hub.

After questioning Yadav and Gupta, the police on Tuesday arrested Abhay Vasant Jadaye, Babasaheb Bajirao Kakade and Shitesh Suresh Pawar. The trio worked with an authorised clearing agent and booked consignments for air cargo.

The police said the trio used to take an extra commission from Yadav and Gupta to ensure the consignments were cleared by the Customs and booked the drugs consignments to Australia and the UK along with other consignments, said joint commissioner of the police Lakhmi Gautam of the crime branch.

He added that the accused had been supplying Ketamine to Australia and the UK for a long time and had smuggled at least 10 kilograms of ketamine every month, added the official.

All the accused have been remanded in police custody till April 1 by a local court.