New Delhi: A worrying trend has emerged in the narcotic drugs syndicate spread across different states, as courier services which are being exploited by traffickers to make the supply more organised.
The Crime Branch of Delhi Police claimed that through courier services, the kingpins can easily keep track of their consignments.
The Crime Branch had recently arrested the proprietor of a medicine distributor firm in Aligarh, who used the courier facilities to ship 1.68 lakh injections of Buprenorphine, an opiod, which was seized.
The arrest was made by the Inter Border Gangs Investigation Squad team of Crime Branch.
Police sources claimed that further investigation in the case revealed that the accused, for the last three years, had been using different courier services to send narcotic drugs to more than five states, including Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and some North Eastern states.
"The accused claimed that through courier facility, the risk of police checking is less. Also, the courier companies do not have any idea about the things they are transporting with proper bills," said a senior police officer.
Investigators in Delhi Police claimed another important reason behind using the courier services is that the accused can track the consignment.
And by the time the package enters the assigned state, members of the gang take it from the courier company executive before its reaches its destination.
"We are investigating their other links in different states," said an investigator.
This is not the first time that traffickers have changed their modus operandi to dodge police. The Special team for active robbers and snatchers of the Crime Branch had, on July 20, arrested three persons involved in the supply of cannabis (Malana cream) in Delhi, which was procured from Himachal Pradesh.
Police sources told Millennium Post that the before sending drug the shipment, the accused used to contact suppliers through a video call, where they would show them person who will meet them for collecting the drugs.
Delhi Police data accessed by Millennium Post stated that 297 cases under the NDPS Act were reported in 2016, under which 383 persons were nabbed. Last year saw more than 300 such cases, where 456 criminals were arrested.