Navi Mumbai cops show how it’s done

The foreign nationals being rounded up and taken to various police stations

In a first of its kind operation, that was the culmination of two-month long surveillance over foreign nationals, the Navi Mumbai police on Friday booked 65 accused involved in drug peddling and other illegalities. Drugs worth over Rs 4 crore were seized from the foreign nationals. The Navi Mumbai police chief said the action is just the beginning and cops have been instructed to dig deep into the nexus of the nabbed foreign nationals with local criminals.

On Friday, around 600 policemen and women from Navi Mumbai police gathered at 6 different locations within the jurisdictions of Vashi, Koparkhairane and Taloja police stations. The sudden gathering of hundreds of cops in the neighbourhoods raised the eyebrows of local residents. Along with the cops, vehicles and personnel of the fire brigade and ambulances were also seen, resulting in many rumours. However, the police informed locals that the action was part of a well-planned operation to nab drug peddlers and illegal immigrants.

The operation

The planning for the operation began approximately 2 months ago by the Crime Branch. "On December 31, 2022, the Crime Branch carried out a raid on a row house in Kharghar in which 16 African nationals were apprehended and drugs worth Rs 1 crore seized. Since then, we realised the need to take action against drug peddlers. This led to the planning of the present operation," said Milind Bharambe, Navi Mumbai police commissioner.

The cops rounded up 74 African nationals and it was found that nine of the people (including two children) had all the necessary documents and were let off

All the crime branch units and specialised branches such as Anti-Narcotics Cell, Anti-Human Trafficking cell, Cyber Cell and Anti Motor Vehicle Theft cell were asked to keep watch on every single foreign national within the jurisdiction of Navi Mumbai. The localities such nationals frequent, their residences, even where they eat, etc. were identified. The day of the raids was finalised as September 1.

Precautions taken
"We discussed many scenarios during the raids such as resistance from these nationals, attempts to self-immolate or injure themselves, jumping from floors, etc. To avoid any such unforeseen consequences, ambulances with doctors, fire brigade personnel were asked to be present during the raids," said a senior police officer involved in the raids. The raids began at 3pm on Friday and went on for almost 18 hours. RTO officials, passport officials were also requested to be present during the raids to check the authenticity of vehicles and validity of passports the nationals carried. Several sewage cleaners were also present during the operations in case anyone was found dumping narcotics in toilets.

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During the raids, the cops rounded up 74 African nationals. Their interrogation and verification revealed that 9 of the persons (including two children) had all the necessary documents and were let off. Another 9 persons were found to have invalid documents, while 31 of the persons did not have visas. They were produced in court and will be deported. At least 14 persons were found in possession of narcotics while 11 history sheeters were nabbed.

More investigations
"After this raid, we now have to work on the nexus of these persons with local goons and drug peddlers. To start with, we are serving notices to flat owners under section 141 of CRPC, for renting them to foreigners without informing the local police," said DCP (Crime) Amit Kale.

"The next thing is the vehicles and electronics the foreign nationals use. Officials have been tasked to check the ownership of vehicles and whether they are stolen. Forensic experts have been given their mobile phones and other electronic devices to extract data, call records to find their connections with locals," he added.

Cops suspect that along with the drug peddling, many of the accused might be involved in the cyber fraud. The cyber forensic analysis of their devices will give more leads to cops. According to sources, 38 mobile phones are being analysed.

"The operation was carried out to bust the habitats of foreign nationals who live without any legal documents. In the operation we found 90% of them were illegal residents and involved in some or the other illegal work. Now, the work to search the nexus of these people with drug suppliers and their local supports is on," said Bharambe, police commissioner, Navi Mumbai.

Drugs seized from the foreign nationals

Cocaine 898 gm
Mephedrone (MD) 267 gm
Strips of Tramadol Hydrochloride 36,640
Worth of total drugs seized Rs 4,96,26,000

06
No of locations raided in Navi Mumbai

600
No of police personnel involved in op

38
Phones seized

05
No of offences registered