Going all out against the narcotics mafia, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) raided several places in Mumbai and Delhi and came across imported high-value drugs being sent by foreign post offices to various destinations like Mumbai and Goa, an official said here on Tuesday.
The raids came in the wake of the arrest of two drug peddlers in Mumbai 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.
The arrested duo includes F. Ahmed, from Calangute, Goa, who works as a driver in a prominent resort, while the Bengaluru-based customer is linked with Page 3 celebs.
The NCB raids were carried out in Mumbai and Delhi from where the sleuths seized imported trafficked bud (curate marijuana), sourced from US and Canada, and commands a hefty price of Rs 5,000 per one gramme on the streets, said NCB Deputy Director K.P.S. Malhotra.
One consignment - sourced from the US - and intended for Mumbai was seized in Delhi, while another quantity confiscated in Mumbai - sourced from Canada - was meant for delivery to Goa.
After the drug peddlers coughed out details, the NCB seized 3.50 kg of bud, which is in great demand in Mumbai leading to its high prices in the grey market and huge profits for the traffickers, he added.
The bud is primarily sourced through the Darknet which affords layers of anonymity to both the buyers and the sellers and the transactions are mostly carried out using crypto-currency.
In the Delhi raids, the consignee was allegedly misguided by his Mumbai contacts who assured that some "legal stuff" was being procured from the US, which would be collected by them. The Mumbai-based persons are currently absconding and the NCB is hunting for them.
Interestingly, some of the persons interrogated by the CBI, the NCB and the ED in the past few days are understood to have spilt the beans on various celebs and politicians allegedly partaking drugs at private or rave parties.
In this connection, Kishore Tiwari, Advisor to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, has called upon the Maharashtra Police to take cognisance of the sensational claims of actress Kangana Ranaut on "drugs flowing like water" in parties.
In a statement on Tuesday, Tiwari also urged Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh to investigate the recent statements made by actor Mukesh Khanna on how several murders in Bollywood were allegedly passed off as suicides.
The latest operations were carried out under the supervision of a nationwide team of the NCB Zonal Director comprising Sameer Wankhede (Mumbai), Kuldeep Sharma (New Delhi) and Amit Ghawate (Bengaluru).
The investigators are hopeful of more details emerging over the next few days in the Bollywood-drugs mafia angle with possible involvement of politicians and other celebs.
