NCB seizes 670 gm cocaine in Delhi, nabs consignee in Palghar

Mumbai/New Delhi, Sep 19 (IANS) The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has seized 670 gm cocaine worth around Rs 4 crore from New Delhi, sourced from Ethiopia, and managed to nab a person from Palghar by employing a ‘controlled delivery operation’, a top official said on Saturday.

The contraband, concealed in a parcel containing tailoring thread rolls, came from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on September 1, and was detected at the Import Custom Examination Area in New Delhi, NCB Deputy Director K.P.S. Malhotra said.

In order to unearth the drug syndicate, NCB Director-General Rakesh Asthana ordered a ‘controlled delivery operation’ of the contraband parcel to the intended addressee in Vasai town of Palghar, adjacent to Mumbai.

Under a ‘controlled delivery’, the NCB can keep the “parcel alive” even after seizing the contraband and replacing it with a dummy parcel.

After verifying the antecedents of the consignee, an NCB team reached Mumbai and successfully arrested him from Vasai, said Malhotra.

“The name of the accused is S. Ghangale, who is associated with several high-profile users and drug traffickers in Mumbai, many of whom are engaged as property dealers or construction contractors and also working as drug peddlers,” said Malhotra.

Their network is also involved with several DJs and party organisers who in turn are linked to high-end party circuits of Mumbai.

Ghangale has been granted a transit remand and will be produced in a Delhi Court shortly.

–IANS

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