Mumbai NCB seizes drugs worth Rs 5 crore; three arrested

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has seized large quantities of different drugs collectively worth Rs 5 crore in three operations in Mumbai and neighbouring Raigad and arrested three persons, an official said on Monday.

Acting on a specific information, the NCB's Mumbai zonal unit seized 870 grams of hydroponic weed last Tuesday in a courier parcel from a Foreign Post Office here. The parcel was sent from the US for a Nagpur-based receiver, the official said.

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While an investigation was on into it, the NCB on Friday got an input about 4.95 kg of methaqualone being transported in a courier parcel in Mumbai. After conducting a search, the NCB seized the parcel, which was booked from Nagpur to be sent to New Zealand, the official said.

Since Nagpur was the common location for both the courier parcels, a team was then dispatched to the Maharashtra city for a follow-up investigation into both the cases, he said. Various aspects are being analysed and enquiries are being conducted to identify the syndicates involved in the international drug trafficking, the official said.

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In the third operation, the NCB busted an inter-state drug trafficking syndicate on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday at Karjat in Raigad district near Mumbai-Pune Expressway, he said.

The agency had information about possible transportation of bulk quantity of a drug by an active syndicate, he said. Accordingly, the NCB laid a trap near Karjat and intercepted a vehicle. When enquired, the vehicle's driver did not give satisfactory replies, following which the NCB officials searched the vehicle. They recovered 88 kg of high quality ganja from false cavities created inside the vehicle, the official said. The NCB team apprehended two more persons from a highway-side eatery, he said, adding that the duo was given the task of receiving and guiding the drug-carrying vehicle's driver towards destination in Mumbai.

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The consignment, sourced from Andhra Pradesh, was meant for further distribution to drug peddlers based in Mumbai and suburban areas, the official said. These persons are seasoned traffickers and were into the illicit drug business for more than four years, he said. While planning a consignment delivery, they used to not only change their contact numbers, but also the vehicle number plates to avoid physical tracking by the enforcement agency, he said.

The three persons are being questioned to gather more information about other drug peddlers, supply links and key associates to dismantle the remaining network, the official said.