Operation White Strike: Narcotics Control Bureau seizes 349 kg cocaine worth Rs 1,745 crore in Mumbai

The seizure comes days after Salim Dola, a notorious drug trafficker and an aide of Pakistan-based underworld don and terrorist Dawood Ibrahim, was brought to India from Turkey.

Mumbai: In one of the biggest intelligence-led anti-narcotics operations in recent years, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) seized 349 kg of high-grade cocaine valued at Rs 1,745 crore, dismantling a suspected transnational drug trafficking network operating across Mumbai and its adjoining logistics corridor.

Codenamed Operation White Strike, the crackdown follows over six months of sustained intelligence gathering and surveillance. 

Investigators are now pursuing leads to identify and apprehend the cartel’s kingpin, handlers, financiers and intended recipients of the consignment.

Officials said the scale of the seizure is significant, noting that India typically records annual cocaine seizures in the range of 200–300 kg.

Acting on specific intelligence, multiple NCB teams carried out coordinated raids in the Kalamboli–Bhiwandi belt, a key warehousing and logistics hub in the Navi Mumbai–Thane region. The operation exposed a highly organised supply chain using commercial storage infrastructure and sophisticated concealment techniques to move contraband.

The action comes days after the deportation of alleged drug trafficker Salim Dola, an associate of Pakistan-based fugitive Dawood Ibrahim, from Turkey.

Twin interceptions

In the first operation, NCB officials intercepted a Maruti Suzuki Super Carry (CNG) vehicle near the KWC Warehousing Complex in Kalamboli. A search of the vehicle led to the recovery of 136 packets of cocaine, each weighing about 1 kg. The contraband was concealed inside cartons, hidden within cricket pads and gloves. One आरोपी was apprehended at the scene.

Based on his interrogation, officials traced a second consignment stored at a warehouse in Bhiwandi. A follow-up raid at a facility in Rehnal village resulted in the seizure of an additional 213 kg of cocaine, also packed in one-kg packets.

Sophisticated concealment

Preliminary findings indicate the cocaine was smuggled into India concealed within the cavity of imported machinery. Each packet was wrapped in nine layers of polythene, including a coating of black greasy material, likely intended to evade detection.

Investigators believe the syndicate leveraged Bhiwandi’s vast warehousing network to store and redistribute the drugs, suggesting a well-structured logistics chain involving import, concealment, storage and downstream distribution.

Centre hails operation

Union Home Minister Amit Shah lauded the NCB’s action, calling it a “trailblazing example” of a bottom-up investigative approach. “We are resolved to ruthlessly crush narcotics cartels. Congratulations to Team NCB for this monumental success,” he said in a post on X.

Further investigation is underway, and officials said more arrests are expected.