NEW DELHI: The special cell of Delhi police recovered 312.5kg of Methamphetamine along with 10kg of heroine from two Afghan nationals on Saturday. According to the police, the total internationalvalue of the seized contraband is estimated to be over Rs 1,200 crore.
The police also claimed that this is one of the biggest seizures in the history of Delhi police. Luxury cars and other vehicles were also recovered from the accused. The accused has been identified as Mustafa Stanikzai (23), a resident of Kabul and Rahimullah Rahimi (43), a resident of Kandahar in Afghanistan.
“In 2020, a EU4 Monitoring Drugs (EU4MD) project report highlighted that there was a growing realisation among those involved in the Afghan drug trade that the Ephedra plants growing wild in the central highlands of Afghanistan for hundreds of years were a potential source of Ephedrine for producing Methamphetamine,” said HGS Dhaliwal, special commissioner of police. He further added, in order to thoroughly investigate the emerging use of meth as the fulcrum of evolving Narco-Terror matrix, an FIR was registered under the relevant sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
“A team of special cell, New Delhi Range has busted a transnational synthetic drug cartel with the arrest of two Afghan nationals from Meethapur Road, near Kalindi Kunj Metro Station, Delhi,” said Dhaliwal. Acting on a tip off, the special cell arrested both the accused near Kalindi Kunj Metro Station.
During the initial investigation it was revealed that a white Mahindra pickup van was trailing the two apprehended Afghans. The vehicle was intercepted near SDMC toll in Kalindi Kunj. During the search of the car, the police found 16 bags of white crystalline material. Rahimullah said that more contraband was kept in a car parked in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The car and drugs were recovered from Greater Noida.
How Methamphetamine is smuggled in India
These cartels transported the Methamphetamine by concealing them in different legitimate export articles like silica gel, talc stone, gypsum powder, basil seeds and etcetera. From Afghanistan labs, the contraband reached the port of neighbouring countries of India and gets containerized for various seaport destinations in India. After reaching India, this contraband is transported to the makeshift factories in Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Delhi and Haryana for processing purposes.
Various chemicals required for these processes are procured by network members from various chemical shops located in MP and Delhi. After the desired purity and strength are achieved, the contraband then gets pushed through a chain of peddlers to the end consumer.Police also highlighted that finances so raised are sent through local Hawala channels to countries like Turkey, Portugal, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran. As per the preliminary findings, the busted syndicate has cogent linkages with established terrorist networks, primarily situated abroad, which are being further investigated, said Dhaliwal.