Ahmedabad: Nearly 7kg of narcotics allegedly meant for Gujarat was seized from a vehicle near Ahmedabad, police said. Hidden in packets of instant-drink powder and raisins, the haul comprised more than 4.5kg of heroin and nearly 2.5kg of mephedrone. Three Delhi residents were arrested near the Ramol toll plaza on the Vadodara Expressway in a joint operation carried out by Ahmedabad and Surat crime branches on Wednesday.The consignment was transported in a Delhi-registered Mahindra XUV and was to be handed over to a man in Rajkot, senior police officers said on Thursday.Police estimated the international market value of the heroin at Rs 22.7 crore and the mephedrone, commonly known as MD, at Rs 3 crore, putting the combined value of the narcotics at Rs 25.7 crore, according to the itemised figures in the police statement.
Rs 26 crore drug haul: Profile of accused
The accused were identified as Kafil Ansari, 59, Tifle Naukhez, 44, and Imran Alwi, 42. After receiving a tip-off, Surat deputy commissioner of police (crime branch) Bhavesh Rojia coordinated with Ahmedabad crime branch officials to track the gang. Surat inspector S N Parmar and his team joined the operation.Police said the three men revealed that they were travelling to Ahmedabad to hand over the drugs to a man named Aslam, who allegedly lives in Rajkot. Investigators are now attempting to identify Aslam.Police believe the gang sourced drugs through international and interstate networks. “Ansari allegedly bought the mephedrone from Shakeel Mohammad, a resident of Bhawani Mandi in Rajasthan’s Jhalawar district. Naukhez allegedly arranged the heroin through a contact identified as Rehmat Gul, who is believed to be based in the Kandahar area of Afghanistan,” a senior crime branch officer said. An intermediary allegedly delivered the heroin consignment in Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar, the officer added.Police said they had been tracking the network for nearly 18 months, although the three accused had not previously travelled to Gujarat. The probe will focus on how the narcotics entered India, the identity of the alleged suppliers and intermediaries and possible links to domestic and international drug-trafficking networks.Police also seized six mobile phones valued at Rs 80,000, Rs 83,900 in cash, a diary, a vehicle registration certificate, a key and the XUV worth Rs 5 lakh.
