By Raju Vernekar
Mumbai, Spet 2:
In cross-country operations, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) unearthed an international drug racket and seized 3.5 kg of Bud (curated marijuana) from Mumbai and Delhi on Tuesday.
The drug sourced from countries like USA and Canada, was seized from foreign post offices. The narcotics has high value and quality, and is sold at 5000 Rs/gram. The drugs seized in Delhi were meant for Mumbai, while the drugs seized in Mumbai were destined for Goa.
The transactions, supply and dealings were done through the “Darknet”, which gives anonymity to all those involved. The economic transactions in this type of international drug trafficking is based on cryptocurrency dealings.
In this connection a Goa-based driver F. Ahmed (30) has been taken into custody. He was to supply the narcotics to a contact in Bengaluru. The accused Ahmed works with a prominent resort at Calangute in Goa and had reportedly supplied contraband narcotic drugs to a prominent receiver in Bengaluru (Karnataka), who had links with celebrities.
The operations were carried out under the supervision of Sameer Wankhede, Mumbai Zone Chief who is from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence and is on a temporary posting with the NCB, Kuldeep Sharma of the Delhi zone and Amit Ghawate, Bangalore, a statement issued by K P S Malhotra, DD(Operations), NCB said.
The raids came in the wake of the arrest of two drug peddlers in Mumbai- Basit Parihar and Zaid Vilatra, three days ago as the NCB, along with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), is striving hard to unravel the drugs mafia’s connections with celebs with possible involvement of politicians.
The NCB which is already investigating the alleged drug angle in the actor Sushant Singh Rajput death case, has registered a case against Goa hotelier Gaurav Arya, actress Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik, her talent manager Jaya Saha and others under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985. It began investigations after the Enforcement Directorate stumbled upon Rhea’s WhatsApp chats, where drugs were allegedly discussed.
In another development, NCB has confirmed that drug peddlers- Farooq Batata and Chinki Pathan have been supplying MDMA (Methylenedioxymethamphetamine, commonly known as ecstasy or molly, is a psychoactive drug primarily used for recreational purposes) and other sophisticated drugs to celebs and others.
In the meanwhile Kishore Tiwari, Advisor to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, has called upon the Maharashtra Police to take cognisance of the sensational claims of Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut on “drugs flowing like water” in parties in Mumbai.
