Six individuals, including a woman, have been arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police in two separate operations, resulting in the recovery of drugs worth over Rs 85 crore in the international market.
The detainees have been identified as Lakhpat Singh (43), Suresh (24), Prakash Puri (39) from Uttar Pradesh, Dal Chand (36) from Uttarakhand, Taslima Begum (38) from Assam, and Ravi Prakash (34) from Delhi.
According to officials, the police seized a total of 101.62 kg of opium and 2 kg of heroin, which is valued at more than Rs 85 crore in the international market. Additionally, Rs 7.5 lakh of hawala money was also confiscated.
The first operation took place on April 23, when the police received a tip-off that Lakhpat and Suresh would be delivering opium to one of Chand’s contacts in Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar around 10 am. The Special Cell conducted a raid and apprehended the duo. Lakhpat was found in possession of 5.31 kg of opium, while 96.31 kg of opium was discovered hidden among 682 gunny bags filled with coconuts in their truck, as revealed by Special Commissioner of Police H G S Dhaliwal.
Based on the information provided by the arrested individuals, a team proceeded to Kichha in Uttarakhand and arrested Chand, who was identified as a key member of the drug cartel. Later, another key member, Puri, was apprehended in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, and a sum of Rs 7.5 lakh was seized from his residence.
Dhaliwal explained that Lakhpat confessed to being involved in drug trafficking for the past five to six years. He had procured the recovered opium from suppliers in Jharkhand under Chand’s instructions. Chand directed him to receive the consignments from various locations in Jharkhand and conceal the opium between bags of coconuts.
Chand admitted to supplying contraband to various local contacts in Delhi/NCR, Chandigarh, and Himachal Pradesh. He would use hawala transactions through Puri to send money to his suppliers, as stated by the police.
Furthermore, the authorities received information about a woman from Assam who was engaged in drug trafficking. She would procure heroin from suppliers in northeastern states and planned to meet an individual named Ravi near Shakur Basti Railway Station for a delivery. The police laid a trap and successfully apprehended both suspects, recovering 2 kg of heroin from their possession, according to the statement. (With inputs from PTI)
