Mumbai: DRI arrests Nigerian operating drug syndicate from Greater Noida

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence DRI has arrested a Nigerian national allegedly a key member of the drug smuggling syndicate an official said on Monday the PTI reportedThe suspect was nabbed from Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh he saidThe accused was allegedly operating and financing a drug cartel he saidAccording to a DRI official the DRIs Mumbai unit had seized 24 kg of cocaine at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport CSMIA and arrested a member of the cartel on October 14 as per the PTIDuring interrogation the arrested accused revealed the name of a Nigerian national who was financing and operating the cartel from Greater Noida he saidAfter sustained efforts and surveillance over a couple of months a team of DRI officials recently tracked down the accused and apprehended him the official saidThe DRI team recovered SIM cards mobile phones and passports issued from different countries during the arrest he saidThe accused was brought to Mumbai on transit remand and sent to judicial custody by court the official saidMeanwhile in an another incidentthe DRI had in October busted an illicit drug manufacturing facility located in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar of MaharashtraDuring the operation the authorities had also seized a substantial haul of 107 litres of liquid mephedrone with an estimated street value of Rs 160 croreAccording to the PTI the crackdown unfolded with searches conducted at two premises associated with a firm known as Apex Medichem Private Limited These searches culminated in significant seizures underscoring the gravity of the issueThe operation had represented a followup action following an initial probe initiated after the DRIs Pune unit in collaboration with the Ahmedabad Crime Branch from the neighbouring state of Gujarat had raided a factory in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar on October 20 the report further stated During that operation authorities confiscated mephedrone ketamine and cocaine all amounting to an estimated Rs 250 crore in the illicit marketThe officials from the DRI had earlier apprehended four individuals and confiscated approximately 7 kg of cocaine in a series of cases in Mumbai The seized drugs hold an estimated value of Rs 70 crore in the international illicit marketwith PTI inputs