Nine kg heroin seized in Delhi, three arrested

Three people working for an international drug cartel have been arrested here with nine kg heroin with an estimated value of Rs.30 crore in the international market, police said Saturday.

A 29-year-old accused, A. Venugopal Reddy, was arrested Wednesday from Shankar road in New Delhi area.

"Following a tip-off, Reddy was arrested with three kg heroin. But the supplier managed to flee," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav.

Reddy told police he has been in this trade for the last six months.

He said he earlier received two consignments of heroin. He also gave information about two Afghani Sikhs - Ragmeet Singh, 25, and Shurbir Singh, 28 - who were coordinating this trade and living in Delhi's Mahavir Nagar area, the officer said.

In a joint operation by Punjab and Delhi Police, Shurbir and Ragmeet were arrested with six kg heroin.

They were arrested Thursday from Majnu Ka Tilla area in north Delhi, where they were supposed to meet another courier for delivering a consignment of heroin.

They revealed their connection with a transnational narcotics racket jointly coordinated by a man named Ali from Kuwait and Samiullah of Afghanistan.

The accused told police that several conduits based in Afghanistan and Pakistan push heroin into India through the Punjab border from where it is carried by road or train into Delhi and delivered to Shurbir, Ragmeet and some other Afghani Sikhs.

Tamil and Telugu regulators of the syndicate take consignments from Delhi and distribute the heroin in the southern part of the country "from where Sri Lankan conduits receive it for smuggling into Sri Lanka", Yadav said.

The accused said that since January they have received 125 kg heroin which has been pushed down the chain for intending processors as well as bulk and retail consumers.