Mumbai: ANC seizes drugs worth Rs 1.18 cr; four held

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The Mumbai police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) arrested four persons for alleged possession of drugs worth Rs 1.18 crore in suburban Juhu, police said on Saturday, reported news agency PTI.

An ANC team nabbed the accused while patrolling on Church Road in the western suburb of Juhu on Thursday, an official said, reported PTI.

The accused Sachin Kiran Nande (33), Nico Philip Gonsalves (31), Harshad Shankar Parulekar (42) and Karington Diabrio (33) were found moving around suspiciously and were caught after a chase, he said, reported PTI.

The team recovered 1,700 gm of high-quality charas worth Rs 85 lakh and 950 gm hydro ganja powder from the accused, the official said, reported PTI.

A probe has revealed that the gang is active in the western suburbs and supplied drugs to youngsters, he said, adding that the police are on the lookout for other gang members.

A case under relevant provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act has been registered in this regard, the official said, reported PTI.

The ANC has registered 86 cases, arrested 174 people and seized drugs worth more than Rs 38 crore so far this year, it was stated.

Meanwhile, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) here has busted multiple national and international drug syndicates and seized cocaine and alprazolam worth Rs 135 crore by arresting a total of nine persons, a senior official said on Friday, reported PTI.

Three of the arrested persons are foreign nationals, he said.

As much as 6.9 kg of cocaine and around 200 kg of alprazolam -- a restricted drug used to treat anxiety disorder -- were seized during these operations.

An NCB team arrested two Bolivian women and seized 5 kg of cocaine concealed in undergarments, toothpaste, clothes, cosmetics tubes, soap, footwear and makeup kits from a hotel in Khetwadi area of south Mumbai, said NCB deputy director general Sanjay Kumar Singh, reported PTI.

The drugs were in the form of powder as well as liquid and paste which could be easily concealed among other articles, he said.

The team allegedly recovered 2.18 kg of cocaine from the belongings of Gloria Ilorca C, and 2.82 kg of cocaine from the baggage of Evelina. The value of the total cache was Rs 20 crore, Singh said, reported PTI.

Both the women had been sent to India with the drugs by a gang based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, the NCB official said, adding that the kingpin of the syndicate too is based in Brazil, reported PTI.

For every successful trip as a drug 'mule', the women got USD 3,000 each.

(With inputs from PTI)