NCB busts major drug racket with haul of heroin worth Rs 52.5 crore

Bengaluru, May 27 (PTI) The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has seized 34.89 kilograms of heroin, valued at around Rs 52.5 crore, and apprehended a Nigerian man said to be the kingpin of the drug racket operating from New Delhi along with nine gang members.

Based on credible information that they received, officers of NCB Bengaluru Zonal Unit, seized seven kg of heroin, concealed in a suitcase of a female passenger coming from Zimbabwe to Bengaluru by flight at the airport here on May 24.

The woman was apprehended along with her associate at the airport, an NCB statement said on Friday.

Both of them were interrogated and they revealed that one similar bag was kept in the lodge where they were staying. When the room was searched, it resulted in the recovery of 6.890 kg of heroin, the NCB release said.

Asked about the value of the total seizure, an NCB official said: "Very pure quality (of heroin) with value approximately Rs 52.5 crore".

It also came to light that three more female passengers with similar consignment have boarded Rajdhani Express and left Bengaluru for Delhi.

Information was shared with the NCB's Indore team, who then recovered 21 kg of heroin from three similar trolley bags and apprehended them from a lodge in Itarsi, Madhya Pradesh, it said.

The handlers of these girls were identified and intercepted at KIA Airport here and they revealed the details of the Nigerian kingpin and his handlers in Delhi.

The NCB Bengaluru team with the assistance from the NCB Delhi operations team nabbed the Nigerian man along with three more female African associates.

"Based on one single input, NCB Bengaluru Zonal Unit managed to successfully bust and neutralise the entire heroin syndicate operating across India," the statement said, adding that the investigation of this case is in progress.

Heroin is an opioid used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects and is potent and a dangerous depressant.