The Delhi Police has busted an international smuggling gang involved in peddling of pseudoephedrine tablets, to be used as party drugs.
Drugs worth `15 crore were recovered and five persons arrested, including two Burmese nationals who were living in the National Capital on a card issued by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). A special team of the Crime Branch recovered 140 kg of pseudoephedrine tablets in around 10 lakh strips and 50 kg of pseudoephedrine powder, along with `1 lakh cash and a car.
Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Singh Yadav said Zel Khan Mong (46) and Dongh lian Kham (41) from Myanmar, lianza Daula (46) and C Zoram Thanga (28) from Mizoram and Vikas Bathla (43) of Delhi were apprehended on March 29 by the special team under the supervision of Additional DCP Kumar Gyanesh.
Daula, a resident of Aizwal, worked with Assam Rifles as Warrant Officer (General Duty) and left the job recently to earn quick money through drug smuggling. Yadav said it was disturbing that a person who worked with a paramilitary force was involved in smuggling.
“We arrested all but Bathla from Peeragarhi, after a tip-off that one Naresh Gupta is involved in drug peddling. After the questioning of the Burmese nationals and two from Mizoram, we raided Gupta’s godown, from where Bathla was arrested,” the ACP said. The tablets were recovered from both the car in which the four were travelling as well as from the godown.
“The gang used to procure pseudoephedrine drug — which is a major constituent of cough syrups and tablets — from registered pharmaceutical factories situated in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana through local agents and distributors in Delhi.
“These huge quantities of drugs are reprocessed to extract pure pseudoephedrine, which gets transported to Myanmar and further in order to undergo chemical reconstitution into methamphetamine (Ecstasy or ICE tablets in party circles). The consignment was to be sent to Manipur and Mizoram for further smuggling to Myanmar by Mong,” Yadav said.
Bathla is a BPharma degree holder and has been working with Gupta for the last few years. He has a drug licence in the name of his firm, Sanjeevani Drugs & Cosmetics.
“On the instructions of Gupta, his drug licence was being used to procure pseudoephedrine tablets from different manufacturers. Mong and Kham confessed they were staying as refugees in Dabri since 2009,” Yadav added.