The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) busted a drug trafficking racket in Mumbai’s Dongri area on Friday and recovered 20 kg of mephedrone worth Rs 50 crore along with cash and gold ornaments in search operations, said an official on Saturday. Three people have also been arrested. These arrests were made after the agency started surveillance on one of the accused identified as N Khan and got a tip-off about the presence of a large quantity of contraband at his accommodation in Dongri. The other two accused were A Ali and a woman named A F Shaikh.
The official stated that the NCB's Mumbai zonal unit had received information about a drug syndicate operating out of the Dongri area, which was involved in the trafficking and distribution of mephedrone in various parts of the city, reported PTI.
After the tip-off, the NCB team laid a trap near Khan's accommodation earlier on Friday and intercepted his associate and other accused A Ali with 3 kg of mephedrone in his possession. The official said they recovered over two more kilograms of mephedrone during the search operation at Khan’s house.
During the interrogation at the site, Khan said he had procured the contraband from a woman identified as A F Shaikh who was from the locality, the official said, as reported by PTI. After confirming her location, the official said another NCB team conducted a raid at the woman’s house and recovered 15 Kg of mephedrone hidden on the premises.
He further confirmed that besides drugs, over Rs 1.10 crore cash and 186.7 gm of gold jewellery were also found at the woman's house, reported PTI.
After interrogation, she admitted that the cash was proceeds from the sale of drugs, said the official. As per the official, the woman had also set up a company to serve as a front to the drug business and its financial transactions.
Meanwhile, an investigation has revealed that the three accused in the matter have been involved in the illicit drug trade for the last seven to 10 years.
In addition, the woman accused had networks across many cities and dealt in bulk quantities of drugs worth crores.
A probe has been launched to trace the remaining associates of the syndicate as some members of the racket also have cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act to their name, reported PTI.