Narcotics worth ₹1.1 crore seized

This is the second seizure of drugs done by ANC in this month. Last week, a Nigerian was nabbed from Ulwe with MD worth ₹85 lakh

Navi Mumbai

Narcotics worth ₹1.1 crore seized

The Anti Narcotics Unit (ANU) of Navi Mumbai has arrested a 29-year-old man from Goregaon who came to sell drugs in APMC area on Tuesday evening.

The accused has been identified as Shamsuddin Abdul Kader Etingal (29). ANU has seized 1 kg 11 grams of MD (Mephedrone) worth ₹1.1 crore from him. The ANC had received a tip about a man who was expected to come near Satra Plaza at APMC node of Navi Mumbai with MD. Accordingly, Senior Police Inspector Neeraj Chaudhary of the ANC and his team laid a trap near the Satra Plaza building on Tuesday evening. At around 4.30 pm, the accused Etingal was seen suspiciously loitering in the area and was nabbed by ANC. He was frisked and the police found MD weighing 1.1kg.

On further interrogation, he revealed that he had received the drugs from a person named Raju in Vasai. “This was his first arrest. A class XII pass out, he runs a mobile accessories shop in Andheri. We are investigating the case further to find the buyers and suppliers of the drugs,” Chaudhary said.

The family of the accused originally hails from Ernakulam district of Kerala. Etingal was born and brought up in Mumbai, and has been now disowned by his family. He lives alone in Goregaon.

This is the second seizure of drugs done by ANC in this month. Last week, a Nigerian was nabbed from Ulwe with MD worth ₹85 lakh. In that case, the ANC had found links to Nalasopara where too a large number of Nigerians reside. According to police, the MD found from Nigerians and Indians are different in quality even as the rates are same. The ones found from Nigerians are more in crystal form and white in colour, while the ones found with Indians is in powder form and yellowish in colour.

Etingal has been arrested under the sections 22 (punishment for contravention about psychotropic substances) and 8 (c) (producing, manufacturing, possessing, selling, purchasing, transporting, using, consuming, importing, exporting any narcotic drug/psychotropic substance) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985. The accused has been remanded to police custody till October 16.