₹2,000 crore drugs found in namkeen packets; Delhi man arrested
What's the story
In a major drug bust, the Delhi Police Special Cell has seized a drug consignment worth over ₹2,000 crore from a closed shop in Ramesh Nagar.
The 200kg haul was found hidden inside open namkeen packets.
The latest seizure comes just days after 560kg of cocaine was recovered, taking the total value of both drug hauls to over ₹7,000 crore.
Arrest made
Hapur resident arrested in connection with drug haul
Akhlaq, who hails from Hapur district, was arrested for transporting the consignment.
The police said "a UK citizen had stored the drugs in the national capital; he is absconding." This was revealed during Akhlaq's interrogation.
The UK citizen, Jitendra Pal Singh or Jassi, had been living in the UK for 17 years and is believed to be connected to a pan-India drug smuggling network with links to organized crime in the UK and Dubai.
Previous arrests
Four suspects arrested in previous drug recovery
In the last recovery of 560kg cocaine, four people were arrested. The police recovered 15kg of cocaine from the personal possession of the accused Tushar Goyal, Himanshu and Aurangzeb.
"They were caught when they were coming out of the godown in Mahipalpur Extension to give the supply to the receiver," a senior police officer said.
Cartel connection
Drug hauls linked to Dubai-based cartel
The police have connected both drug hauls to a cartel headed by a Delhi-based businessman, who is currently in Dubai.
The alleged cartel kingpin, Virender Basoiya, reportedly met Goyal in Tihar in 2011 and is believed to have sent the consignment from South America to India via Dubai on an old cargo ship.
According to an HT report, the accused transported drugs from Chennai to Delhi via Hapur with Akhlaq being responsible for bringing the consignment from Hapur to Delhi.
Distribution plan
UK national hired to distribute 2nd drug consignment
"Basoiya had hired another handler, a UK national, to take care of the second consignment. Gill (an accused) and the handler were instructed to 'distribute' the consignment to different handlers and syndicates. We identified him but he left India on Sunday or Monday," an officer said.
The police tracked the vehicle through GPS.