After getting bailed out from judicial custody 15 days ago, 55-year-old Poonam Anthony Vaz was arrested again on Tuesday for peddling drugs.
This is the fourth time Vaz has got arrested in a drug peddling case in the last four years. After receiving a tip-off by Assistant Police Inspector Amit Shelar from Navi Mumbai Anti-Narcotic Cell, a team, led by Senior Police Inspector Vinod Chavan, laid a trap at Vaz’s residence in SS2 building at sector 18, Koparkhairane.
During the search, the team found 1.8 kg Ganja worth ₹ 18,000 and 100 gram Charas worth ₹ 12,000. According to police, Vaz was first arrested by Koparkhairane police in 2012. She was nabbed next in 2015 and then in 2016 and was in judicial custody till 15 days ago. “Every time she is bailed out, she is back to her usual business,” Mr. Shelar said. Vaz has a 31-year-old married son who lives apart because of her drug business. According to the police, Vaz and her husband were drug peddlers, and after he died a few years ago, she took over the business and started dealing alone.
The police are now investigating the source from where she gets the drugs and to whom she supplies them. They suspect that her main customers are college going students. “Though she deals in drugs, she herself doesn’t consume it. We produced her before the court on Wednesday and she has been remanded to judicial custody for 15 days,” Mr. Shelar said.
The writer is a freelance journalist
