Karimganj, Assam:

Assam Rifles in a joint operation with the police apprehended one person and seized 10,000 Yaba tablets worth Rs 1 crore in Assam’s Karimganj district on Monday, officials said.

Karimganj ASP Pratap Das said that the seizure was carried out in Badarpur police station area upon information about transportation of narcotics.

“We had source information about transportation of narcotics. Accordingly, we launched an operation in Badarpur police station area and apprehended one person Dilwar Hussain choudhary (23 years old) of Katigorah area. The market value of the seized drugs is estimated at around Rs 1 crore,” ASP Pratap Das said.

The police said that a vehicle has also been seized during the operation.

Further investigation in the case is underway, they added.

Earlier on October 6, police seized 1.5 kg of illegal drugs valued at Rs 3 crore in Karbi Anglong district and apprehended two persons.

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Chandigarh:

Law enforcement agencies have seized Rs 26.82 crore worth of drugs, liquor and unaccounted-for cash in Haryana since the Model Code of Conduct for the state assembly elections came into effect on August 16.

To ensure that the October 5 Haryana assembly elections are conducted in a completely fair and transparent manner, all guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India, along with the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), are being strictly followed, Chief Electoral Officer Pankaj Agarwal said on Tuesday.

To prevent voters from being influenced by any form of inducement, the Commission is maintaining a rigorous stance and various agencies are closely monitoring the movement of illegal liquor, narcotics and cash in the state, he said.

From August 16 to September 16, a total of Rs 26.82 crore worth of illegal liquor, narcotics and unaccounted-for cash have been seized, he said.

Mr Agarwal said the Haryana Police, along with other agencies, is continuously maintaining strict vigilance.

He said since the MCC came into effect, actions have been taken by various departments including police, Income Tax and Narcotics Control Bureau resulting in seizures.

Among the seizures made include more than 3,26,017 litres of illegal liquor worth over Rs 9.82 crore.

Mr Agarwal further said agencies have seized over 2,339 kg of narcotics worth more than Rs 6.76 crore.

He said the state police and other agencies have seized valuable metals such as gold and silver worth more than Rs 3.10 crore, totalling 48,908 grams.

Apart from this, the state police and other agencies have seized other items worth more than Rs 2.41 crore, he said.

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Guwahati:

The Assam Police on Friday arrested four individuals for their alleged involvement in a drug syndicate. In a joint operation, the Assam Police and the Special Task Force (STF) conducted raids at two locations in the state’s Karimganj and Cachar districts, seizing drugs worth over Rs 120 crore.

According to the police, the accused have been identified as Noimul Haque, Fuzail Ahmed, Atiqur Rahman alias Atik, and Jagajit Deb Barma alias Barman.

Acting on a tip-off, the police seized 3,50,000 Yaba tablets and 1.3 kg of heroin from 100 soap cases, which were found inside the “secret chambers” of a 12-wheeler truck.

The value of the seized drugs in Karimganj district is around Rs 115 crore, Assam Police IG Parthasarathi Mahanta said in his statement.

In another recovery in the neighboring Cachar district, police seized 18,000 Yaba tablets worth Rs 5.5 crore at Kathal Road in Silchar.

Ahmedabad:

The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) conducted a raid at a mephedrone manufacturing unit in Thane district of neighbouring Maharashtra and seized liquid drug worth Rs 800 crore, an official said on Wednesday.

It also carried out a similar operation at a pharmaceutical factory in Bharuch district of Gujarat, where it recovered liquid Tramadol worth Rs 31 crore, he said.

During its operations conducted at both the places on August 5 and 6, the ATS arrested four persons who were involved in the production and sale of these narcotic substances which are banned under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, said Sunil Joshi, Deputy Inspector General of Police, ATS.

Based on a specific tip-off, an ATS team raided an apartment in Bhiwandi town of Maharashtra on August 5 and arrested Mohammad Yunus Shaikh (41) and his brother Mohammad Adil Shaikh (34) with nearly 800 kilograms of mephedrone (MD drug) in liquid form and worth Rs 800 crore in the international market, he told reporters.

“Our probe revealed that the two brothers had rented the flat nearly eight months ago to manufacture mephedrone using various chemicals. Their earlier batch failed but this batch was almost ready and the process to produce the final product in powder form was on when the raid was conducted,” Mr Joshi said.

On July 18, the ATS had busted a mephedrone manufacturing unit in Palsana area of Surat city and seized drugs and raw material worth Rs 51.4 crore, he said, adding that three persons were also arrested from the spot.

During their interrogation, the trio revealed that Shaikh brothers from Maharashtra were also part of the drug cartel, he said.

In another operation, the agency raided a pharmaceutical unit in Dahej industrial area of Bharuch district and arrested two persons with liquid Tramadol worth Rs 31 crore, Mr Joshi said.

Tramadol, an opioid pain medication, was notified as a psychotropic substance under the NDPS Act in 2018 and its export is restricted.

The arrested persons were identified as Pankaj Rajput and Nikhil Kapuria.

Investigations revealed that Rajput works as a chief chemist at that factory, where pharmaceuticals are produced as per order, while Kapuria is the owner of a chemical trading firm.

“Kapuria had convinced Rajput to produce Tramadol. They acquired the raw material from a firm in Ahmedabad, whose owner is Harshad Kukadiya. After preparing the liquid Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API), the duo used to send the liquid to Kukadiya. With the help of his aides, Kukadiya used to send the liquid to a factory in Gandhinagar to prepare Tramadol tablets,” Joshi said.

While Rajput and Kapuria have been arrested, efforts are on to nab others who were involved in this racket, he said.

On July 29, the Customs department had seized at Mundra port in Gujarat’s Kutch district 68 lakh Tramadol tablets worth Rs 110 crore from two export containers destined for the West African countries of Sierra Leone and Niger.

Interrogation of the arrested accused revealed that the seized tablets were prepared by them and sent to Mundra for export, Joshi said.

Notably, Tramadol has gained notoriety in recent times as the ‘fighter drug’ after it was reported that ISIS fighters consume it to stay awake for long hours.

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Washington:

US officials have arrested two Indian nationals with drugs worth USD 10 million, the Department of Justice said. Simranjit Singh, 28, and Gusimrat Singh, 19, of Fresno, California were each charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, it said.

Both made initial appearances before a federal court in Boston on July 29 and remain in federal custody. They were detained after local police found in the cab of the tractor trailer, over 400-kg bricks of suspected cocaine worth more than USD 10.5 million.

“The sheer amount of drugs seized in this one case is disturbing and dangerous. These defendants allegedly took a cross-country trip to distribute illicit narcotics into Massachusetts communities,” said Acting United States Attorney Joshua S Levy.

According to charging documents, on July 29, at 10.15 pm, a white tractor trailer arrived at a planned Andover address to deliver methamphetamine to the undercover agents. The driver and passenger of that tractor trailer, later identified as Gusimrat Singh and Simranjit Singh, allegedly handed off 65 pounds of suspected methamphetamine to the undercover agents. The men were immediately taken into custody.

The charge of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, at least three years and up to life of supervised release, and a fine of up to USD 1,000,000.

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Drugs worth over Rs 1.15 crore hidden inside children’s toys, chocolates, lunch boxes and candy vitamins were seized in Ahmedabad on Saturday, police said.

One person has been detained in connection with the case, they said.

In a joint operation, Ahmedabad Crime Branch along with the customs and excise departments seized the marijuana which originated from Canada, the USA, and Thailand.

The parcels containing the hybrid and synthetic ganja were recovered from the Foreign Post Office. 

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday said that election-time seizures have reached Rs 8,889 crore, with drugs comprising 45 per cent of the total.

“Enhanced vigil against inducements, including drugs and psychotropic substances, has resulted in big seizure actions and a continuous surge. Drug seizures have been maximum. Regular follow-ups and reviews of districts and agencies in areas of expenditure monitoring, precise data interpretation and active participation of enforcement agencies have led to this significant spurt in seizures since March 1,” the poll body said

The seizure of drugs, liquor, precious metals, freebies, and cash influences elections in varying degrees, some flowing directly as inducement while others through reduced levels of circulation of money.

The Commission, led by CEC Rajiv Kumar along with ECs Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, held meetings with the DG, Narcotics Control Bureau, to take up analytics-based proactive action for ensuring action by dedicated Nodal Officers of NCB.

Similarly, active involvement of the DRI, Indian Coast Guard, state police and other agencies was ensured during the ongoing elections. All these measures have led to significant seizures in the two months since the announcement of the polls.

“With the increasing intensity of campaigning in the last three phases, the Commission is keeping close tabs on attempts at influencing voters through inducements and has directed the CEOs and enforcement agencies to step up the vigil. The crusade against drugs and other inducements by the Commission will continue,” it added.

The EC stated that the Gujarat ATS, NCB and Indian Coast Guard, in joint operations, have made three high-value seizures of drugs in just three days, amounting to Rs 892 crore.

“These elections have witnessed a series of targeted actions against the menace of drugs. Other states apart from Gujarat, Maharashtra and Delhi have also shown seizures of drugs. On 17.04.2024 Noida Police busted drug factory in Greater Noida wherein 26.7 kg of MDMA drug valued at Rs. 150 Crore were seized and two persons of foreign origin were arrested. The seizures in other cohorts have equally been impressive and surpasses the entire seizures of 2019 Parliamentary Elections by a big margin. Meticulous and exhaustive planning stands at its base,” it stated.

Real-time reporting of interceptions and seizures under the Election Seizure Management System (ESMS)- an in-house app, has resulted in quick, regular and precise reviews on expenditure monitoring. In addition, 656 Expenditure observers deployed for Parliamentary Constituencies and 125 expenditure observers are also keeping a close tab on check posts, functioning of ground level teams and are actively monitoring to ensure that citizens are not put to discomfort in the process of monitoring.

A close vigil is also kept in 123 Parliamentary Constituencies which are marked as expenditure-sensitive constituencies for more focused vigil.

The process of motivating agencies and having an active interface started in full force during the last quarter of 2023. In the first two months of the calendar year, already Rs. 6760 crore worth of drugs were seized, which conveyed a message that the Commission has a ‘zero-tolerance’ approach to any form of inducement that may influence the voters.

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Pune:

 In a major crackdown, the Pune police arrested a 32-year-old man with 2.38 kg of drugs worth over Rs 2 crore from Pimpri Chinchwad in Pune district.

The arrested individual has been identified as 32-year-old Namami Shankar Zha, who hails from Bihar state.

“The city police, now Pimpri-Chinchwad police, swung into action and seized 2.38 kg of MD drugs worth Rs 2,02,00,000 and arrested the accused from the Pimple Nilakh area of Pimpri Chinchwad in Pune district on Friday,” said an official.

According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Shivaji Pawar, “The arrest of the accused took place after his suspicious movement with a white carry bag was noticed by on-duty assistant police inspector Narayan Patil of Sangvi police station in the local area during night patroling.”

DCP further informed that during the search of the suspect, police found 2.38 kg of MD drugs with a market value of around 2.20 crore and a mobile phone in his possession.

After the arrest, a case was registered at the Sangvi police station under sections 8 (c), 21 (c), and 22 ( c) of the NDPS Act.

Subsequently, the accused was produced in court on Friday and remanded to police custody for seven days by the district magistrate court in Pune.

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Champhai, Miozram:

 A woman from Myanmar was arrested and heroin worth Rs 1.04 crore was recovered in Champhai by Assam Rifles on Wednesday.

“In yet another success in its crusade against smuggling activities, Assam Rifles under the aegis of Inspector General Assam Rifles (East), recovered 149 gms of heroin worth Rs 1.04 Cr in general area Mualkawi, Champhai on October 4 and arrested a Myanmar woman,” said a press release.

The operation was carried out by a combined team of Assam Rifles in Champhai and Customs Preventive Force, Champhai based on specific information.

The entire consignment of Heroin worth Rs 1,04,30,000 (Rupees One crore four lakh thirty thousand) and the accused have been handed over to Customs Preventive Force, Champhai for further legal proceedings.

The ongoing smuggling of contraband items is a major cause of concern for the state of Mizoram and India.

Assam Rifles rightly christened as the ‘Sentinels of Northeast’ have continued their efforts against illegal smuggling and have also doubled their efforts to nab the kingpins of the smuggling of contraband items in Mizoram.

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