New Delhi: Police have busted an alleged Indo-Nepal narcotics syndicate that used autorickshaws and bike taxis to ferry charas to customers in Delhi-NCR, arresting four Nepalese nationals and seizing over 106 kg of the contraband worth around ₹109 crore, an officer said on Friday.
Teams carried out two operations, one each in June and August, leading them from street-level suppliers to an alleged bulk storage and distribution point in Wazirabad, the officer said.
Police said the syndicate allegedly procured charas through a Nepal-based network operating around the Indo-Nepal border near Sonauli (Uttar Pradesh), transported the contraband to Delhi by road and stored it at different locations before supplying it to distributors and customers in Delhi-NCR.
Social media, UPI payments, taxis
The accused allegedly coordinated drug orders through social media platforms and accepted payments through both cash and digital banking channels. They used autorickshaws and bike taxis to make deliveries and deleted digital communications after transactions to conceal their activities, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Anant Mittal said.
"The syndicate allegedly targeted areas with a high concentration of young consumers and supplied drugs to demand centres including Wazirabad and Majnu Ka Tila. The investigation has also found that the network supplied distributors and customers linked to pubs, bars and hotels in the vicinity," the officer said.
"Our investigation is now focused on identifying the Nepal-based suppliers, financial trail and other members of the network," Mittal said.
Nepalese nationals held
The first operation was conducted on June 29 after the special staff received inputs about Nepalese nationals allegedly supplying charas in Delhi-NCR.
The team raided a house in Kotla Mubarakpur and arrested three accused -- Bharat Thapa (32), Govind Budha (32) and a 50-year-old woman. Police said 8.598 kg of charas was recovered from their possession.
A case was registered at Kotla Mubarakpur police station and subsequently police explored both the forward and backward linkages of the arrested accused. Interrogation led the investigators to another Nepalese woman suspected of operating a major storage and distribution point in Wazirabad.
"On August 12, the team raided the identified premises and recovered another 97.652 kg of high-quality charas packed in 13 plastic bags. A mixing machine and packing material were also seized," the officer said.
The accused, a 32-year-old Nepalese national, was arrested during the operation. She disclosed during interrogation that she had been part of the distribution network involving the three accused arrested in June.
She left India and returned to Nepal after their arrest but came back recently believing that the situation had settled and resumed her activities, police said.
With the second seizure, the cumulative recovery in the case reached 106.250 kg of charas, estimated by police to be worth around ₹109 crore. Police said none of the four arrested accused has any previous criminal involvement, as per available records.
"We have also identified two Nepalese nationals, Binmaya and Hari, as alleged suppliers linked to the network. Binmaya arranged transportation of charas from the Sonauli border area towards Delhi, while Hari has also emerged as an alleged supplier," the officer said.
Further investigation into the matter is underway.