In a second major drug bust in a week, Delhi Police seized 208 kg of cocaine worth Rs 2,080 crore from a rented ship in west Delhi's Ramesh Nagar area.
An official said that the drugs were concealed inside plastic snack packets with labels of 'Tasty Treat' and 'Chatpata Mixture'. Around 20-25 such packets kept in cartons were recovered from a small narrow shop.
This seizure is connected to the 562 kgs of drugs worth over Rs 5,000 that were earlier recovered from southwest Delhi's Mahipalpur, the official noted.
Drugs Kept In Cartons In Ramesh Nagar Shop:
Meanwhile, news agency PTI reported citing official sources that the drug consignment was kept in the shop by an Indian origin UK citizen who is now absconding.
"We got a tip-off during investigations of our previous seizure and arrest. On Thursday evening, a team of the Special Cell was sent to the shop and recovered the consignment," a police official said.
Before the police team, the UK citizen -- who has been identified by the cops -- managed to escape from the scene. The officer said that the UK man had taken the shop on rent a few days ago, adding that two people including the shop's owner have been detained and interrogated.
During questioning, the shop owner told police that the shop was rented for garments-related business.
The police official said it is suspected that the UK citizen wanted to transport the drugs to other parts of the country but, he fled after the Mahipalpur seizure.
On October 2, Delhi Police's Special Cell seized over 560 kg of cocaine and 40 kg of hydroponic marijuana estimated to be worth Rs 5,620 crore from Mahipalpur. At least four persons were arrested in connection with the drugs and later two more persons were apprehended from Amritsar and Chennai.
A case was registered under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
Earlier in the day, the Special cell made its seventh arrest in the case, catching a man named Akhlak -- a native of Uttar Pradesh's Hapur.
Police said that the syndicate was allegedly run by a Dubai-based businessman Virender Basoya, who was running the racket with the help of Tushar Goyal and Jitender Gill alias Jassi, both arrested by the police, they said.
A look out circular (LOC) was issued against Basoya, who is currently absconding. Police suspect that Basoya is a part of an international syndicate which has given different works to different people.
Most of the syndicate members do not know each other and they were operating based on code names on social media, police sources said.
A senior police officer familiar with the probe said so far 700 kg of cocaine, worth over Rs 7,000 crore, has been recovered from the national capital. They said that these seizures were part of the same syndicate which had brought consignment via sea route to Goa from South American countries.
It is suspected that some more consignments are kept or already transported to other destinations, the officer said, adding that police teams are conducting raids at various parts of Delhi-NCR, trying to nab the other co-accused of the drug syndicate.
MP DRUG BUST
Following the first drug haul in Delhi, another bust in Madhya Pradesh's Bagroda area hit the headlines as Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) seized 907.09 kg of mephedrone (MD) worth Rs 1,814 crore from a synthetic drug manufacturing unit.
Later, cops also seized chemicals and raw materials from a ship in Bhopal and detained the facility's owner. A top police officer had said that the seized materials could potentially produce MD with an estimated value of Rs 250 crore to Rs 350 crore.
The factory's ventilation system which was connected to the ground unlike the usual system -- which is connected to the roof -- caught the investigators' attention, leading to the massive drug haul.
