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Mumbai ephedrine haul kingpin Vicky Goswami held in Kenya, taken to US
The drug racket came to light when police seized around 18.5 tonne of ephedrine, worth approximately Rs 2,000 crore, after raiding the premises of Avon Lifesciences Ltd in Maharashtra’s Solapur district in April.
Nine months after the Rs2,000-crore ephedrine haul, the main accused, Vicky Goswami, was arrested by the United States (US) Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) from Kenya on Sunday. “Vicky Goswami was arrested and he has been taken to the US,” said Parag Manere, deputy commissioner of police, Thane.
A police source said Goswami, an international drug baron, was playing golf when the officials went to arrest him. “He was arrested on Sunday. The officials had secretly taken the court orders for his arrest. Even his advocate didn’t know about it and thought it was a routine affair to give attendance to the police officers,” said a police source.
Apart from Goswami, three other people have also been arrested in Kenya.
Another police officer from Thane said, “We are in the process of gathering evidence against Goswami, who is alleged to be the husband of former Bollywood actor Mamta Kulkarni.”
He added that Mamta Kulkarni’s role in the crime too is being investigated.
Goswami’s advocate from Mumbai confirmed the arrest. “Our senior lawyers are in Dubai to look after the case.”
Another kingpin in the ephedrine drug racket from India, Kishoresingh Rathod, who was arrested a few weeks ago, will be brought to Thane on Wednesday. The drug racket came to light when police seized around 18.5 tonne of ephedrine, worth approximately Rs 2,000 crore, after raiding the premises of Avon Lifesciences Ltd in Maharashtra’s Solapur district in April.
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Thane ephedrine haul: Mamta says she’s not afraid of investigation
