Three arrested, meow meow worth Rs50 crore seized

The Special Cell Unit of Delhi police unearthed an international drug racket on February 15 with the arrest of three people along with a seizure of 25 kilograms of the drug Mephedrone worth Rs 50 crore in the international market. The manhunt for the kingpins of the racket is on.

After the arrest, the three accused during their questioning came clean on the scale of the operations. The racket has been operating from the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates and crossed at least six continents to reach its destination.

The peddlers sourced their drug from East African countries. Following this, the drug was shipped to Maharashtra after which it was distributed across various networks to Delhi, Punjab, Mumbai, and Kolkata.

The myriad routes never ended as the drugs were repackaged for sale in the Unites States of America, United Kingdom, Europe, and several South Asian and Middle Eastern countries.

On February 15, the South Western range of Special Cell arrested three accused involved in the racket out of which the main accused, Harpreet Singh, happens to be a silver medal holder in the Common Wealth Youth games.

The other two accused have been identified as Amandeep Singh (29) and Harnish Sarpal (36).

The investigation sourced its crucial leads on 11 February after the investigators received secret information stating that Amandeep and Harpreet would soon fly to Mumbai with the contraband and then would return on the intervening night of 13-14 February. With further addition on the same, the duo was successfully nabbed at the New Delhi Railway station. Deputy Commissioner of police (Special Cell), Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, said,

"The duo had boarded the Dadar- Amritsar train to reach New Delhi Railway station. We had set a trap and the accused were found near the Parking Gate when the team tried to apprehend them. After a brief chase, the duo was caught with the suspected drug. The third accused, Hanish Sarpal, was arrested from Janakpuri after the duo gave out information on his whereabouts.

During questioning of the duo, the racket came under full exposure. The racket mainly dealt with the synthetic stimulant, Mephedrone. The main kingpins of the racket have been identified as, Kailash Rajput and Kishan, who conducted the racket from Dubai and London respectively.

"Though every member had an important role, the masterminds behind the racket were these two. The stimulant was sourced from East Africa countries as the Khat plant was used to make the drug. Following this, the drug was shipped to Maharashtra after the people in charge of security of the ports were paid off.

After the drug safely reached the state, it was distributed via Mumbai and Delhi-based agents to various cities and also to UK, US, Europe," Yadav added. Now, the main chase for the kingpins of the racket has begun. "We have recovered 25 kilograms of the drug but a larger consignment is hidden somewhere in Maharashtra. We are trying our best to trace the shipment routes and also the suppliers," Yadav added.