Major Afghan-Nigerian heroin cartel busted
New Delhi, Sep 14: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) claimed to have busted an Afghan-Nigerian heroin cartel with the arrest of six foreigners in Delhi and seized narcotics worth Rs 30 crore.
A senior official said four Afghan and two Nigerian nationals have been arrested over the past few days by the NCB.
Under
a
latest
drive
against
international
drug
cartels,
the
first
to
be
arrested
by
NCB
was
an
Afghan
who
arrived
at
the
Indira
Gandhi
International
Airport
in
Delhi
from
Kandahar.
Two
other
men
from
Afghanistan
were
subsequently
held
and
it
was
found
that
the
three
were
carrying
253
heroin
pellets
in
their
body.
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The trio led to another Afghan national who was supposed to take the delivery from them, the official said.
Two Nigerians, part of the Afghan-Nigerian drug cartel, were apprehended from Vasant Kunj and Uttam Nagar areas.
Over 8 kg of heroin estimated to be worth Rs 30 crore in the international market has been seized from them, he said.
"This successful operation is a result of increased focus of NCB on international drug networks especially Afghan heroin supply network who are working in collaboration with Nigerian drug traffickers."
"It has been noticed that heroin, originating mostly from Afghanistan is smuggled to other parts of the world by various modes of concealment in baggage, various items and as in this case swallowed by drug mules," NCB Deputy Director General (Northern Range) S K Jha said.
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India, he said, is not only a market but also the transit point for drug cartels and hence the syndicates based in Afghanistan have continuously tried to smuggle in heroin into the country.
"Further investigation in coordination with foreign authorities is being conducted to identify other persons involved in the illicit drug syndicate," Jha said.