SP leader's nephew, three others held with Rs 40 crore-worth drugs

Delhi Police on Wednesday claimed to have busted an international drug cartel here with the arrest of four persons, including a nephew of a Samajwadi Party leader, and seizing party drugs valued at over Rs 40 crore from them.

They were involved in smuggling of the contraband drug consumed at rave parties, police said.

Accused Avdhesh Kumar, 26, Chandan Rai, 31, Amit Aggarwal, 40, and Abu Aslam Qasim Azmi, 43, are resident of Delhi. Azmi is said to be a nephew of senior Samajwadi Party leader and Maharashtra MLA Abu Azmi.

Kumar was arrested on Sunday morning on a tip-off from an office in Mahipalpur Extension here with five kg drugs. At his instance, other accused were arrested on Monday and Tuesday during raids in Chandigarh and Mumbai.

The gang supplied the drug at rave parties held in posh areas in Delhi, Gurugram, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Goa and other parts of India, police said.

"They supplied drugs even to clients abroad, including the United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, the United States, and Middle East countries," a police officer said.

Police said gang kingpin Kailash Rajput is settled in Dubai.

"Abu Aslam looked after the network of this drug cartel in India," Deputy Commissioner of Police Sanjeev Kumar Yadav told IANS.

"Delhi Police received a tip-off that a consignment of premium quality drug 'Ice' will be sent from Mumbai for supply in the US and UK and that drug traffickers will visit their Mahipalpur office fronted by 'Prefer Logistic Pvt. Ltd.' for packaging the contraband," Yadav added.

Police said accused Abu Aslam used to work as a cargo officer with a company in Dubai till 2008.

He came in contact with Rajput during a Mumbai visit through a friend and joined the cartel after he was impressed by Rajput's lifestyle. He stayed in and ran this cartel from a five-star hotel in Mumbai, police said.

A manhunt is on to nab the absconding accomplices, the officer added.

--IANS

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