Rs 100 cr drug bust at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh: NCB probing hawala angle, links with Pak narcotics operatives

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In one of the biggest recent narcotics seizures, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Delhi Unit on Thursday busted an India-Afghanistan drug syndicate and recovered 50 kilograms of heroin worth over Rs 100 crore from a residential flat in southeast Delhi's Jamia Nagar, Shaheen Bagh.

One person was arrested in this case. Along with the contraband, Rs 30 lakh of cash and 47 kilograms of some other narcotics substance, concealed in a tree trunk- yet to be identified, were also recovered.

The NCB and agencies concerned are now probing if the hawala money was for any other illegal purposes.

In connection with the recovered narcotics to the massive recent drug haul in Kandla is also being looked into, sources said.

NCB Deputy Director General (operations) Sanjay Kumar Singh said that the probe so far has revealed that an India-Afghan syndicate based in Delhi, the National Capital Region and the neighbouring states has also surfaced.

He said these syndicates have expertise in manufacturing and adulterating heroin locally.

One of the investigators said the kingpin of the syndicate is based in Dubai and the agency is probing the case further, including certain links with Pakistan-based narcotics operatives.

"The man who was arrested is an Indian national and had taken the house on rent from where the drugs and cash have been recovered, " the officer said.

The NCB Deputy Director General further said that the drugs were kept in backpacks and jute bags and were wrapped in packets of e-commerce companies.

"This is one of the biggest narcotics seizures in Delhi, that too from a residential area, in the recent past. Another 47 kg of "suspected" narcotics were also seized from the premises and has been sent to a laboratory for testing," Singh said.

Officials said that the seized heroin originated from Afghanistan and the cash found is suspected to have been channelled through hawala. The NCB also seized cash-counting machines and some other "incriminating" material from the premises, officials said.

The NCB further said that the India-Afghanistan syndicates smuggle goods to India through maritime as well as land-border routes and heroin is smuggled with legitimate goods and cargo. "The contraband is subsequently extracted from these goods by the Indian members of the syndicates with the help of some Afghan nationals," one of the officers said.

NCB officials also said that their teams are carrying out raids to bust the entire network and the traffickers are linked to operatives based in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Delhi.

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