Drugs worth Rs 150cr seized in largest ever haul in Delhi

The special cell of Delhi Police, after sustained investigations in what otherwise looked like a like a normal drug haul, stumbled upon the largest consignment of narcotics to have ever been found in the Capital on Sunday.

The special cell of Delhi Police, after sustained investigations in what otherwise looked like a like a normal drug haul, stumbled upon the largest consignment of narcotics to have ever been found in the Capital on Sunday.

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The consignment, which includes two kilograms of crack cocaine — one the purest, most addictive though cheapest forms of the drug — and 47 kilograms of fine quality heroin, was estimated to be worth Rs 150 crore in the international narcotics market.

Crack happens to be one of the most widely consumed narcotic substances in the United States and has, over the years, has elicited the country to start several community reform programmes at the school-level to keep adolescents and young adults from falling prey to it given its easy availability.

Three members of a trans-national syndicate, engaged in smuggling the controlled substances across major Indian cities before pushing them into neighbouring countries from where they would be further dispatched to the European Union nations, had been arrested a week ago.

“A fourth arrest was made after two of the arrested members of the syndicate - Shurbir and Raghmeet — identified one Autar Singh, 48, a relative of Shurbir, as the seniormost member of their local syndicate who dealt with bulk consignments of narcotics being smuggled into India from Afghanistan and Pakistan,” said Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, deputy commissioner of police (special cell).

Autar, the police said, was found to have been absconding ever since the arrest of Shurbir and Raghmeet. Over the next two days, several raids were conducted, many suspect warehouses, parking lots and drug dens were searched and several known associates of the arrested peddlers were questioned, according to the police.

On December 28, Autar was apprehended from north Delhi’s Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar while he was driving a Hyundai Santro car packed with 32 kilograms of fine quality heroin and 2 kilograms of crack cocaine.

“He was subjected to sustained interrogation wherein he disclosed that he had left behind another consignment, of 6 kilograms of heroin, at his residence. This was recovered from the said property in west Delhi’s Tilak Nagar,” DCP Yadav said.

The seizures made so far, the police claim, are by far the biggest narcotics hauls made in recent times with continuing investigations likely to result in more arrests and a better understanding of how high quality drugs are being pushed into India through the Punjab border to be later trafficked to other countries.