With the arrest of seven people including one African and one Burmese National, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Sunday claimed to have busted an international heroin smuggling syndicate. The NCB has also seized drugs worth about Rs 48 crore in Delhi.
Among the arrested are an African man and a woman from Myanmar. The agency unearthed a modus operandi where the mastermind was coordinating the operations from abroad by creating various layers of anonymity.
According to KPS Malhotra, the Deputy Director, NCB operations, to circumvent the current situation of controlled international passenger flights, the mastermind and the syndicate involved were exploiting the international courier route.
"The operation began early this month with the seizure of a parcel, originating from South Africa, containing 970gm of heroin from a courier service in the national capital," said Malhotra.
In order to unearth the full trail, NCB chief Rakesh Asthana issued an order to initiate the controlled delivery procedure to the Delhi zonal unit of the agency to track the beneficiaries of the seized parcel.
"The controlled delivery mechanism empowers NCB to keep the parcel delivery alive, even after seizing the contraband and replacing the same with the dummy parcel," Malhotra said.
Under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, the NCB director general is authorised to order a controlled delivery operation to unravel all layers of a drug cartel or syndicate.
"The parcel led the agency to arrest Indian nationals identified as Wahid, Mohsin, Shahjahan, Hanif and Munnasir from a hotel in the Mahipalpur area of Delhi. Their interrogation led the NCB to another parcel containing about 980 gms of heroin," said Malhotra.
"Later, a woman from Myanmar and an African were also arrested. Two parcels are also being identified and they will be seized in the near future. The credentials of the Burmese and the African national are being verified," said Malhotra.
"The international value of the seized heroin including the one kept in the yet-to-be seized parcels is estimated to be more than Rs 48 crore," Malhotra added.