INDIA. Mumbai: In one of the largest seizures in the last one year, the Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) of Mumbai Police seized 1.3kg cocaine worth nearly Rs four crore in the international market, from Mumbai on Thursday.
Acting on a tip-off, the police apprehended a Nigerian national from Khar in northwest Mumbai. Upon his search, the police found a bag containing some white powder, which on further testing, turned out to be cocaine. The accused, Innocent Lawrence Dada (33), residing near Palm Beach Road in Navi Mumbai, during his interrogation said he had procured the contraband from another Nigerian national, Deputy Commissioner of Police Datta Nalawade said
The officer said the accused supplied cocaine to a rich clientele, including those linked to the film industry and also to youth, in the western suburbs. “Due to a reduction in supply, there has been a high demand for cocaine since last year,” the officer said. Ironically the accused used to sell clothes during day and was indulging in drug-peddling in the night. The police are investigating whether Innocent is part of a larger international drug racket.
In another case, the Azad Maidan unit of ANC arrested another accused of allegedly selling charas worth Rs 16 lakh. On Tuesday, the ANC had arrested Ashraf Sayyad (30) from Goregaon (West) in North Mumbai with 504-gram charas worth Rs 10.08 lakh. During interrogation, he told the police that he had procured it from Mohammad Shaikh. The police laid a trap and arrested Shaikh and found 810 grams of charas worth Rs 16 lakh from him. “The charas was sourced from Bihar where it may have been smuggled in from Nepal. It is suspected to be a part of an international gang selling charas,” the officer said.
