Navi Mumbai police bust hydro ganja racket; 10 held

Navi Mumbai police bust hydro ganja racket; 10 held

Thane, Navi Mumbai police have arrested 10 persons, including two policemen and a customs department, who were allegedly part of a racket smuggling hydro ganja and seized contraband worth lakhs from them, an official said on Tuesday.

Navi Mumbai police bust hydro ganja racket; 10 held

The police have seized hydro ganja and other drugs worth ₹16.43 lakh from the network involved in smuggling the substance from Thailand, Deputy Commissioner of Police Amit Kale said.

He said the crackdown began on April 14 when the Anti-Narcotics Cell raided a terrace flat in Nerul based on a tip-off.

"During the operation, we arrested Ashish Gaware and Ahmed Khaled Alangi while they were entering into a drug deal. We seized 17.99 grams of hydro ganja worth ₹2.76 lakh," Kale stated.

During interrogation, the duo revealed that hydro ganja was being smuggled from Thailand via air routes.

The DCP said, "Investigations revealed that Sujit Bangera, a two-time national hockey player, and Sahil Lambe were key persons importing the drugs. Once the contraband arrived at the airport, it was cleared through the foreign post office with the assistance of Prashant Gour, a superintendent with the customs superintendent."

He said they have also arrested police havaldar Sachin Bhalerao of Kharghar and police naik Sanjay Phulkar, who were communicating with the accused.

Further probe revealed that cash obtained from the sale of drugs was routed through angadias Ankit Pitambarbhai Patel and Rinkunkumar Dineshbhai Patel and converted into cryptocurrency to mask the trail, Kale said, adding that the key accused, Kamal Jaikisan Chandwani, who got the drugs cleared, was also arrested.

He said drugs and paraphernalia worth ₹16.43 lakh were recovered, and the police also seized four high-end cars, cash proceeds of ₹14.12 lakh, and other materials worth ₹1.38 lakh.

The DCP said a Special Investigation Team has been constituted to probe deeper into the racket.

"The SIT will examine the extent of the network and any additional connections to the international smuggling syndicate," he said.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.