30-kg heroin worth Rs 120 crore seized in Delhi

Three suspected members of an international drug cartel have been arrested here with 30 kg of heroin worth Rs 120 crore, the biggest seizure of the narcotic substance in the national capital this year, police said Saturday.

Abdul Rashid (26), Arbaj Mohammad (21) and Mohammad Nazim (22), natives of Rajasthan's Bhilwara district, used to procure narcotics from a supplier in Imphal. The supplier used to smuggle the drug from Myanmar in containers loaded with betel nuts, the police said.

On the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, a trap was laid near Ambedkar Park at R K Puram and the accused were arrested. Thirty kg of heroin worth Rs 120 crore and an SUV car was seized. The vehicle was used for carrying heroin from Manipur to Rajasthan, said P S Kushwaha, deputy commissioner of police (special cell).

During interrogation, the trio revealed that they were associated with an international drug cartel and have been supplying heroin in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh from Manipur for the past four years. They have supplied over 200-kg heroin over the last one-year period, Kushwaha said.

The special cell has busted six such modules operating from Manipur and recovered more than 95-kg heroin this year, the DCP added.

According to the police, heroin from Myanmar is comparatively cheaper and relatively of good quality in comparison to the one produced in the traditional opium cultivation areas of Bareilly, Badaun, Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh, Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh and Jhalawar in Rajasthan.