NEW DELHI: In another major narcotics bust in the capital, the Special Cell of Delhi Police arrested two members of an international drug cartel on Thursday. The accused youth from Bihar had been supplying drugs in the capital.
The police recovered 20 kg of narcotic drugs, including 10 kg of heroin and 10 kg of opium, pegged to be worth over Rs 60 crore in the international market. The two accused identified as Abhishek Raja, 26, and Nizamuddin, 34, were arrested from Muzaffarpur in Bihar, said the police.
Police also impounded a Mahindra Scorpio SUV with secret cavities used for concealing as well as transporting the drugs. The accused have been supplying the drugs in Delhi NCR and other states for the past three years. Police sources also said that the recovered heroin and opium were smuggled in from Myanmar via Manipur.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Jasmeet Singh said, “A team of Special Cell was working on information that an international drug ring is active in the states of Manipur, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Delhi. The gang members were involved in receiving a supply of heroin in Manipur and supplying the drugs in various parts of the country including Delhi NCR.”
He further said, “It took three months of effort to develop the information. During this process, members of this cartel were identified and their activities were kept under discreet surveillance.” “We sent a team to Bihar to arrest the members of this drug cartel. On receipt of an input, the accused duo was apprehended while travelling in an SUV near Jhanjharpur at NH 27 in Darbhanga in Bihar on September 12,” he said.
During the interrogation, the police found that they are members of a drug ring. The accused procured the heroin and opium from a person in Manipur as per directions of a person in Bihar. This person is alleged to be heading the drug ring, said DCP.
A senior police officer said that the heroin and opium from Myanmar and Manipur have higher demand because of their superior quality as compared to the heroin manufactured from opium in conventional pockets of illicit cultivation in the country UP, MP and Rajasthan. Efforts are on to identify the remaining members of the cartel, said the police.