Delhi Police nab pseudoephedrine drug racket mastermind, accomplices

An alleged mastermind behind a drug trafficking racket has been arrested by the Delhi Police Special Cell along with his two accomplices following seizure of 200 kg of pseudoephedrine worth Rs.10 crore in the international market. The accused supplied the precursor to party drugs, methamphetamine, to northeastern States and Myanmar.

The unit had last December busted a similar gang that supplied pseudoephedrine to Myanmar via Delhi. “During interrogation, the accused persons disclosed that one Mohammad Asgar was the mastermind behind the racket. He would procure the stuff from pharmaceutical units at Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, Dehradun in Uttarakhand and Baddi in Himachal Pradesh. He placed orders in the name of non-existent companies,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police Sanjeev Yadav.

The team received a tip-off on Tuesday that Asgar (33) had been staying in Jamia Nagar and would supply a consignment to his client near Masigarh village. The policemen in plain clothes then intercepted a car in which the suspect was travelling.

“We seized from the accused 2 kg of pseudoephedrine in loose tablets. Five more cartons with 41,900 tablets weighing 50 kg were seized from the car. The accused hails from Manipur,” said Mr. Yadav.

During interrogation, Asgar purportedly disclosed that his accomplices Mohammad Asker (25) and Abdul Kalam (31) were at a godown in the Johri Farms area of Noor Nagar. The police arrested the other two accused, who are cousins. Police investigations revealed that Asgar supplied pseudoephedrine to northeastern States.

“From the northeastern States, the consignments are smuggled out to Myanmar and China for the manufacturing of high quality party drugs sold at exorbitant prices in the international market,” he added.

Accused Akser, an Indian Air Force employee who was declared a deserter and dismissed from service last year, joined the trade about two years ago after he came in contact with one Mushtaq from Manipur. He started working for Asgar last year. Accused Abdul worked as his helper.