E-Paper
Drugs worth ₹6 crore meant to be smuggled into Mumbai seized from Kenyan national at Ahmedabad
Mumbai city news: According to officials, the drugs were to be smuggled into Mumbai and from there, to New Zealand
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Wednesday seized drugs worth ₹6 crore from a Kenyan national at Ahmedabad railway station. According to officials, the drugs were to be smuggled into Mumbai and from there, to New Zealand.
Officials from the NCB arrested John William Best, 33, from the Sarai Rohila – Bandra Garib Rath Express. He was found in possession of 587g of cocaine and 700g of amphetamine. “The contraband was cleverly concealed in footwear, tie boxes and headphone boxes,” said Hari Om Gandhi, zonal director of Ahmedabad unit of the NCB.
According to investigations, a supplier had given Best the drugs in Delhi from where it was to be smuggled into Mumbai and then to New Zealand through a courier, officials said. The bureau said they are trying to understand the modus operandi of the drug network.
“Best offered to be a drug carrier for $100, ” said Gandhi.
The agency is also investigating if Best knew Peter Chineda, a Nigerian who, on June 10, was caught from Vadodara with 747g of amphetamine and 243g of cocaine in a Delhi-Goa train.
The recent arrests of foreign nationals have led authorities to believe a cocaine-smuggling racket is thriving in the country and metro cities are being used as landing points.
On June 8, the NCB in Mumbai arrested a Bolivian national with cocaine worth ₹21 crore and three days later, arrested a Colombian national with cocaine worth ₹36 crore.
Sources said there are networks of people involved. The carriers are, most of the time, communicating with a person, who himself does not know the real drug lord.
