NCB seizes 97 Kgs of Afghan Heroin & 30 lakh drug money from Delhi's Shaheen Bagh area

In a key development, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Delhi Zone seized 50 Kg of High-Quality Heroin, 47 Kg of suspected narcotics, 30 lacs of drug money in cash, cash counting machines, and other incriminating material from residential premises in Jamia Nagar, Shaheen Bagh on Wednesday, April 27 on a tip-off. The contraband was stored in travel bags, bag packs, and jute sacks.

During a press briefing, NCB Deputy Director General SK Singh said that the seized Heroin originated from Afghanistan and the drug money was suspected to be channelled through Hawala. The seized Heroin was packed in the packaging of Flipkart. One Indian national has been charged in the case.

International Heroin trafficking Network busted

"The investigation shows that it is having an international syndicate behind it. Dubai, Pakistan, and Afghanistan syndicate are behind it. They smuggle from outside and their supply is in Punjab, Jammu and other nearby states. Pakistan has role is in the supply of the drug. The place, which we raided, was used as a warehouse and the person, whom we arrested, is handling the Indian chain. He used to collect money and send it to Dubai through Hawala. More people involved in this case are identified and are being tracked," NCB DDG Singh said. 

During the ongoing investigations, it has been revealed that an Indo- Afghan syndicate based in Delhi/NCR or neighbouring states seems to be connected to the case. These syndicates have expertise in manufacturing/adultering Heroin locally. These syndicates have been smuggling goods to India through maritime as well as land border routes wherein heroin was smuggled in alongside various legitimate goods. Heroin was later extracted from those goods by the Indian counterparts with the help of some Afghan nationals. 

Several raids by NCB were conducted and are still going on to bust the entire network. The syndicate was found to be connected with drug traffickers of the entire north region including the states of Punjab, Haryana, UP, Uttarakhand, and Delhi. Further investigation is on.

NCB keeping a close watch on international traffickers

Responding to the development, NCB Deputy Director-General, Gyaneshwar Singh told Republic that the organisation has been keeping a close watch on these international traffickers. "We are focusing on busting big cases. This is one of the biggest drug busts in recent times, we have seized 50 Kg of High-Quality Heroin, 47 Kg of suspected narcotics along with 30 lacs of drug money that came from Hawala, and other incriminating material from residential premises in Jamia Nagar, Shaheen Bagh," he said.

"This has linkages to many other countries, including Dubai, Afghanistan, Pakistan and many states in north India. We are examining their linkages with other syndicates. This area and such kinds of people are on our radar. We are keeping watch on certain associates and other connected areas. We are expecting more recoveries in the NCR region," he further added.