Delhi Police has made one of the biggest drug busts ever seen in the city, seize over 562 kilograms of cocaine and 40 kg of Hydroponic Marijuana, estimated to be worth around Rs 5640 crore, transported to the national capital by an international module.
According to the Delhi Police, four people have been arrested from South Delhi’s Mahipalpur Extension area by the Special Cell on Tuesday and the consignment was confiscated.
“The busted drugs are worth Rs 5640 crore in the international market,” a police officer said, adding this seizure is one of the largest drug busts in the national capital. The price of recovered Cocaine in international market is 10 crore per kg and Hydroponic Marijuana is 50 lakh per kg. Authorities suspect an international drug syndicate reportedly run by Afghan nationals stands behind the trafficking.
Special Cell team had been working for over two months based on a tip-off which led to the bust as the drug was supposed to be distributed in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) as their demand is high during the festive season. Delhi Police Special Cell is probing the Narco-terror angle.
Additional Commissioner (Special Cell) Pramod Singh Kushwaha said that Tushar Goyal (40) of Vasant Enclave and his associates Himanshu( 40), of Suleiman Nagar, Kirari, Aurangzeb Siddiqui (23) of Vasant Gaon (He is originally from village Choti Rar, Deoria UP) and their receiver Bharat Kumar Jain (48) (from Kurla West, Mumbai) were apprehended from Mahipalpur Extension in South West Delhi by the Special Cell of Delhi Police after working on a tip off.
According to police, main kingpin and handler of Tushar of this drug cartel identified so far is operating from a Middle East country. He was the main distributor in Delhi. The true extent and reach of the nexus is still being probed.
Police said Tushar is the Indian handler who used to receive and store the consignment, and Auranzeb and Himanshu distributed the drugs. Aurangzeb, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, was Tushar’s long-time driver who joined the syndicate. The fourth person, Bharat Jain, came from Kurla, Mumbai, to receive a consignment of 15 kg cocaine and distribute it in Mumbai, said the Delhi Police.
The remaining drugs were seized inside the godown in the publication factory owned by the main accused Tushar Goyal. The raid was conducted at his publishing factory by the Special Cell of Delhi police on Tuesday night, with all four accused present at the location.
Kushwaha revealed that 15 kg of the seized cocaine was found in the personal possession of Goyal, Himanshu and Aurangzeb.
He said the seizure is one of the biggest by the force in the national capital. Though he did not give a cumulative figure for the drugs seized, he claimed the cost of cocaine is Rs 10 crore per kg and Thai marijuana around Rs 40-50 lakh per kg. If one goes by this calculation, the seized cocaine is worth Rs 5,620 crore. He said there was no angle of narco-terror at this moment but they were investigating all angles.
According to police, the drugs came from South America, via the Middle East, and the marijuana came from Thailand to India. They were then transported from various states to Delhi.
The incident follows the recent arrest of two Afghan men, Hashimi Mohammad Waris and Abdul Nayib, who were apprehended in Tilak Nagar with 400 grams of heroin and 160 grams of cocaine.
Waris has been living in India on refugee status since January 2020. He was previously employed at a chemist shop in Vikaspuri. Waris allegedly got involved in drug trafficking after a friend approached him to assist with deliveries for various consignments in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). As per reports, the compensation was approximately $100 per delivery for Waris.
Nayib, also an Afghan national, arrived in India in January 2020 along with his father and is a registered refugee. His family, except for his father, remains in Afghanistan. Nayib met Waris in the Vikaspuri chemist shop, where Waris enticed him into the drug business by promising a lavish lifestyle.
This recent bust is part of a broader crackdown on drug trafficking in the capital. Earlier this year, the special cell of Delhi Police apprehended four men transporting drugs from violence-hit regions in Manipur and other states to sell in clubs across South Delhi. These individuals used luxury vehicles like Kia Seltos and Mahindra Thar, posing as senior officials from construction companies involved in road projects in Imphal to facilitate their operations.
The latest bust has raised concerns about the potential for a narco-terrorism connection, which the police are currently investigating. The demand for narcotics typically increases during the festive season, prompting authorities to take preemptive action against drug distribution networks.
In a related incident that happened on the same day, Delhi Customs seized 1,660 grams of cocaine valued at over Rs 24 crore from a passenger at Indira Gandhi International Airport. The accused, a citizen of Liberia, arrived from Dubai and was subsequently arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act of 1985.
Earlier in August, the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) conducted a raid at a mephedrone manufacturing unit in Maharashtra’s Thane district and seized liquid drug worth Rs 800 crore. The Gujarat police also carried out a similar operation at a pharmaceutical factory in Bharuch district, where it recovered liquid Tramadol worth Rs 31 crore, he said.
On July 29, at Mundra port in Gujarat’s Kutch district, the Customs department seized 68 lakh Tramadol tablets worth Rs 110 crore. The seizure was made from two export containers destined for the West African countries of Sierra Leone and Niger.
On July 18, the ATS had busted a mephedrone manufacturing unit in Palsana area of Surat city and seized drugs and raw material worth Rs 51.4 crore, he said, adding that three persons were also arrested from the spot. Earlier in August, Guwahati Zonal unit of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) cracked down on an inter-state drug trafficking racket and seized 934.510 kg of Ganja and apprehended a person.
