Mumbai emerged as a major destination for drugs seized by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) during operations conducted in the past few days, said the agency on Thursday. Ten persons, including a Nigerian national, have been arrested.
Apart from 1 kg of cocaine, the NCB has seized 2 kg of phencyclidine, over 29 kg of MDA (methylenedioxyamphetamine), and 70 gm of mephedrone. In a separate operation, 56 kg of hashish was seized in Jammu. The main receiver was arrested from Mumbai.
The agency, in a statement, said one of the arrested persons was employed as a peon/runner with Balaji Telefilms Private Limited through a third party.
On October 12, the NCB’s Mumbai unit seized 1 kg of cocaine and two kg of phencyclidine from one M. Ahmed in Palghar. During interrogation, the accused disclosed that the contraband was provided by S.K. Saurabh for further sale. Accordingly, Saurabh was arrested the next day.
At Saurabh’s instance, the agency seized more than 29 kg of MDA from his shop on Tuesday. The accused disclosed that the drugs belonged to A. Khanivadekar and his brother, R. Khanivadekar.
“A. Khanivadekar has also been arrested. During interrogation, he revealed that his brother is an accused in a Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) case involving 483 kg of ephedrine and is currently on bail. Before the DRI raid, they had shifted the contraband to Saurabh’s shop,” said an official.
In another case, the NCB’s Jammu unit seized 56.4 kg of charas concealed in 55 packets kept at Ban Toll Plaza in Nagrota on Thursday. Three accused, identified as M. Gupta, A. Gambir and Sonia, all residents of Delhi, were arrested. The agency seized ₹1.91 lakh in cash and a vehicle used for transporting the contraband.
“The charas was destined for Mumbai. In a combined operation of the Operations unit and the Jammu zonal unit, the prime suspect named Faruk Chandbadhsah Shaikh was arrested on the Mumbai-Pune highway, along with one Kurban Ali, a resident of Nagaur in Rajasthan,” the official said.
During interrogation, the accused revealed that they were also involved in another case in which 6 kg of charas was seized from their other associates in Mumbai.
The NCB’s Operations wing also arrested Pradeep Rajaram Sahni with 70 gm of mephedrone in Mumbai’s Andheri West. Pradeep allegedly supplied the drugs to various persons in the Andheri and Juhu areas in Mumbai. Stating that he was employed as a peon/runner with Balaji Telefilms through a third party, the agency said his distribution network was being investigated.
In yet another operation, the NCB arrested a Nigerian national named Uka Emeka and allegedly seized 4 gm of cocaine from him.
The seized drug had originated from a South American country. It is suspected that the accused delivered it to his contacts in the Pali Hill, Bandra, Andheri, Juhu and Khar areas, the agency said.
