36 kg heroin seized in Delhi, six held

New Delhi, July 30 (IANS) Six people, including two Afghan nationals, were arrested in the capital and 36 kg of heroin valued at Rs.125 crore in the international market seized from them, police said Wednesday.

Mohammad Zamir, 46, Baba Fakruddin Sheikh, 40, Mohammad Saleem Khan, 52, Afghan national Mohammad, 48, Chandbasa, 36, and a 33-year-old Afghan woman, Sakiba, were arrested July 26-27 from various locations in Delhi and Jaipur in Rajasthan.

"We have arrested six people, including two Afghan nationals, and recovered 36 kg heroin from them. The value of the seized heroin is estimated to be around Rs.125 crore," Special Commissioner of Police S.N. Srivastava told IANS.

Zamir and Sheikh were arrested July 26 while exchanging a consignment of 8 kg of the drug in Bhikaji Cama Place area in south Delhi.

Saleem, Mohammad and Sakiba were arrested July 27 from Delhi, while Chandbasa was arrested from a hotel in Jaipur the same day.

Sheikh, who works for a south India-based drug cartel, told police he had come to Delhi along with his associate Chandbasa to receive the drug consignment from Zamir.

Zamir said he works for Saleem, a resident of Daryaganj in central Delhi.

Saleem, who was arrested from the Jama Masjid area, disclosed that he received a consignment of 36 kg heroin from the contacts of Mohammad, an Afghan national who was residing in Lajpat Nagar area of south Delhi.

"Saleem had delivered one kg heroin to Sakiba (who was staying in Bhogal area in south Delhi) and eight kg to Zamir for supplying the drugs to Sheikh. He had kept 20 kg heroin in his godown and the remaining seven kg was with Mohammad," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Sanjeev Yadav.

The official said the heroin consignment was smuggled from Afghanistan to Pakistan and entered India through the rail route using the Thar Express train which crosses over from the Munnabao check-post in Rajasthan.

"The heroin was concealed in soles of ladies sandals to avoid detection," Yadav said.

Mohammad was lured into the drug trade by his handlers based in Afghanistan and he came to India to supply drugs here, he said.

Mohammad contacted Saleem and Sakiba in Delhi and they started handling the drug peddling business in the capital city.