Delhi Police busts international drug cartel; 5 held with drugs worth Rs 5 crore

New Delhi, May 24 (PTI) Delhi Police has busted an international drug trafficking syndicate with the arrest of five persons, including the alleged kingpin, and seized drugs worth approximately Rs 5 crore in the international market, an official said on Saturday.

The contraband, recovered in two separate operations carried out by Delhi Police Special Cell, was smuggled from Nepal and the northeastern states of India, he said, adding that the accused have been identified as Jasmer Singh (52), the alleged kingpin, Raj Kumar (47), Kala (50), Mohan Lal (45), and Sanjay Rawat (43).

"Jasmer Singh and his associates were smuggling opium and charas from Nepal under the pretext of tourism and textile trade. Meanwhile, Mohan Lal sourced heroin and opium from Manipur and transported it to Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, posing as a worker engaged in road construction projects," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Amit Kaushik said.

In the first operation, conducted on April 15, the police team apprehended two suspects, Jasmer and Raj -- both natives of Haryana -- near the Burari Authority area. They were allegedly waiting in a car, which was later found to contain 5.12 kg opium and 3.53 kg charas hidden in the petrol tank and the roof, he said.

Their interrogation led to the arrest of two more alleged accomplices -- Kala, a resident of Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, and Sanjay from Shamli in the state. An additional 1.87 kg of opium was recovered from them, the officer said.

In the second operation on April 29, the police nabbed Mohan, a resident of the Churu district in Rajasthan, from Burari. He was wanted in an NDPS case and was allegedly found carrying 625 grams of crude heroin concealed in a secret cavity of a car, the DCP said.

The accused allegedly used social media accounts linked to Nepalese phone numbers for communication and coordination, he added.

The police said Jasmer was earlier jailed in Nepal from 2011 to 2019 in a narcotics case and was also arrested in Haryana in 2021. He allegedly formed a cartel in prison with Kala and resumed smuggling upon release.

Mohan was allegedly drawn into the trade after suffering financial losses in small businesses. He later acquired a car and used it for smuggling drugs from the northeast, often travelling with a woman to avoid suspicion, the DCP added.

A total of 7 kg of high-quality opium, 3.53 kg of charas, and 625 grams of crude heroin were allegedly recovered during the operations.

Cases under appropriate provisions of the NDPS Act have been registered and efforts are underway to trace other associates of the syndicates, the police added. PTI SSJ MNK MNK