Rs 328 crore narcotics seized, 15 held in interstate racket – Times of India
MUMBAI: In a major crackdown on an interstate drug trafficking network, the Kashimira crime unit has arrested 15 men from various parts of the country and seized mephedrone (MD) raw material and drugs worth Rs 328 crore from factories located in Uttar Pradesh and Telangana, the police said on Wednesday. The gang was allegedly operating under the instructions of Salim Dola, an aide of the fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim.
The operation began when Kashigaon police received a tip-off about a drug consignment headed towards Mira-Bhayander on May 15, just days before the Lok Sabha election. On intercepting the vehicle, the police seized 1 kg of the banned substance, valued at Rs 2 crore, and arrested Shoaib Memon and Nicolas Leofred, both residents of Vasai, who were allegedly transporting the consignment.
Further investigation led the police to an MD manufacturing factory in Narsapur, Telangana, where they arrested the factory owner Dayanand Manik from Hyderabad and his accomplice Nasir Shaikh from Telangana. The officers seized drugs and raw material worth over Rs 25 crore from the factory.
Mira Bhayander Vasai Virar commissioner Madhukar Pandey revealed that the arrest of Dayanand, a key suspect, helped apprehend individuals in Goregaon and Padgha in Thane district, as well. Mohammed Mohin, originally from Telangana, was arrested in Goregaon while attempting to sell the drugs, and over 72 gm of the substance was recovered from him.
A significant development in the case was the arrest of Zulfikar Kothari from Surat on May 31. Kothari confessed to receiving money from Dola, against whom a lookout notice had been issued by Mumbai police in May. The police seized over Rs 11 lakh from Kothari. It was also revealed that the money for the manufacture and sale of the drugs was being routed through angadias. A father-son duo, Mustafa and Hussain Furniturewala, from Bhendi Bazar were arrested, and the police seized Rs 7 lakh that had been routed through Dola.
The largest consignment of MD raw material, worth Rs 300 crore, was seized from Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh.
The operation began when Kashigaon police received a tip-off about a drug consignment headed towards Mira-Bhayander on May 15, just days before the Lok Sabha election. On intercepting the vehicle, the police seized 1 kg of the banned substance, valued at Rs 2 crore, and arrested Shoaib Memon and Nicolas Leofred, both residents of Vasai, who were allegedly transporting the consignment.
Further investigation led the police to an MD manufacturing factory in Narsapur, Telangana, where they arrested the factory owner Dayanand Manik from Hyderabad and his accomplice Nasir Shaikh from Telangana. The officers seized drugs and raw material worth over Rs 25 crore from the factory.
Mira Bhayander Vasai Virar commissioner Madhukar Pandey revealed that the arrest of Dayanand, a key suspect, helped apprehend individuals in Goregaon and Padgha in Thane district, as well. Mohammed Mohin, originally from Telangana, was arrested in Goregaon while attempting to sell the drugs, and over 72 gm of the substance was recovered from him.
A significant development in the case was the arrest of Zulfikar Kothari from Surat on May 31. Kothari confessed to receiving money from Dola, against whom a lookout notice had been issued by Mumbai police in May. The police seized over Rs 11 lakh from Kothari. It was also revealed that the money for the manufacture and sale of the drugs was being routed through angadias. A father-son duo, Mustafa and Hussain Furniturewala, from Bhendi Bazar were arrested, and the police seized Rs 7 lakh that had been routed through Dola.
The largest consignment of MD raw material, worth Rs 300 crore, was seized from Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh.
