Second major drug bust: Police seize 208 kg of cocaine worth Rs 2,080 cr

NEW DELHI: In the second big drug haul in a week, Delhi Police has seized 208 kg of cocaine worth Rs 2,080 crore from a rented shop in west Delhi, an official said on Thursday evening.

The drugs were hidden inside plastic packets of snacks with ‘Tasty Treat’ and ‘Chatpata Mixture’ written on them. About 20-25 such packets kept in cartons were recovered from a small narrow shop in west Delhi’s Ramesh Nagar area, the official said.

The seizure is linked to an earlier recovery of 562 kg of drugs worth over Rs 5,000 crore from southwest Delhi’s Mahipalpur, he said.

He further said the recovered seizure weighs around 208 kg, which is worth Rs 2,080 crore in international market.

Official sources said the consignment was kept there by an Indian origin UK citizen who is now on the run.

“We got a tip off during investigations of our previous seizure and arrest. On Thursday evening, a team of the Special Cell was sent to the shop and recovered the consignment,” a police officer said.

The UK citizen, who is identified by the police, managed to escape before the arrival of the team. He had taken the shop on rent a few days ago, the officer said, adding two people including the owner of the shop have been detained and questioned.

The owner told the police that the shop was taken on rent for business related to garments, the officer said.

It is suspected that the UK citizen wanted to transport the drug consignment to other parts of the country but he fled after the police’s previous seizure, he said.

The Special Cell, on October 2, had seized over 560 kg of cocaine and 40 kg of hydroponic marijuana estimated to be worth Rs 5,620 crore from a godown in Mahipalpur in south Delhi and arrested

four people.

Two more persons were subsequently apprehended from Amritsar and Chennai.

Earlier today, the Special Cell arrested Akhlak, a native of Hapur, Uttar Pradesh, marking the seventh arrest in the case. Police sources indicated that the syndicate is allegedly run by Dubai-based businessman Virender Basoya, who is currently on the run. Tushar Goyal and Jitender Gill alias Jassi have already been arrested.

The syndicate members reportedly operate under code names on social media and may not know each other. A senior officer revealed that police have recovered 700 kg of cocaine worth over Rs 7,000 crore, which was transported via sea from South America to Goa. Ongoing raids are targeting various locations in Delhi and NCR to apprehend

other co-accused.