Mumbai: Customs seize MDMA worth Rs 35 lakh; arrest Ajaz Khan’s staffer

Actor Ajaz Khan (left) with Suraj Gaud, his peon at the office

Actor Ajaz Khan has once again found himself embroiled in an alleged drug-related case after the Special Postal Intelligence Branch (SPIB) of Mumbai Customs tracked a consignment originating from a European country and discovered that it was delivered to Khan's office at Veera Desai Industrial Estate in Andheri.
The Customs officials also arrested one Suraj Gaud, who is known to the actor and had worked for him.

Sources have, however, revealed that the office where the package was delivered is not registered under Khan's name. According to information shared with mid-day, the property is rented, and the lease agreement is in the name of one of Khan's relatives.

Actor Ajaz Khan gifting a mobile phone to his peon Suraj Gaud

According to officials, the consignment contained approximately 100 grams of MDMA, a contraband substance worth around Rs 30-35 lakh. The consignment came from Holland. Based on the information that the particular consignment was carrying contraband, the customs began tracking it. Officials said they were tracking the person who had booked the consignment and found out that it was Gaud, who is employed as office aide at the actor's office. On Tuesday, the SPIB raided the Andheri office premises and initially detained Gaud, but he was arrested later in the day. Officials said they will produce him before the court on Wednesday.

According to the officials, Gaud confessed to booking the consignment but claimed he was unaware of its contents. The officials said that they will soon record the actor's statement in connection with the case. During the interrogation, Gaud claimed that he had known the actor only for the past three months, however, officials found several social media posts of Khan with Gaud. In one of the video posts uploaded a few months back, Khan, while gifting a cell phone to Gaud, can be heard saying Gaud was in jail for years and he got him the bail.

Officials said that Gaud told them that he had met Khan while they were both in Arthur Road Jail. Khan was earlier arrested in a drug case by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in 2021 from the Mumbai airport after his name surfaced during the interrogation of notorious drug supplier Farooque Shaikh. Khan was allegedly found in possession of 31 Alprazolam tablets. He was granted bail by the Supreme Court after spending two years in jail. The actor was also arrested in 2018 by the Navi Mumbai Anti Narcotics Cell allegedly with ecstasy tablets in a hotel. mid-day tried to reach out to Khan, but his number was switched off.