The anti-narcotics cell (ANC) of the Mumbai crime branch has seized a huge consignment of charas that was brought from Gujarat to Mumbai.
The Ghatkopar ANC unit has seized 79 kg of charas worth `94.80 lakh and arrested three people. The police has also seized a Tata Nano in which the drug was smuggled into the city. The huge seizure of charas is said to be the biggest seizure of the ANC in the last five years.
According to the police, the ANC Ghatkopar unit received a tip-off that a few people would gather near Mahakali Mata Mandir on Saki-Vihar Road in Powai on Tuesday with a huge amount of charas, to deliver it to a Mumbai-based supplier. A team of police officials led by PI Vilas Bhole, API Manisha Shirke, API Vilas Chougule and staff then laid a trap at the said place and arrested three people, who were later identified as Saleem Dola (46), Firoz Sumbhaniya (33) and Shabbir Sumbhaniya (35). Dola lives in Ghodapdev, while Sumbhaniyas hails from Jamnagar in Gujarat.
The police searched the Nano car in which Firoz and Shabbir were smuggling in drugs, and found 79 kg of charas in the car. “The drugs were packed in 1 kg packets. Initial probe revealed that Firoz and Shabbir had brought the drugs to deliver it to Dola, who is considered to be a big drug dealer. Dola was supposed to pay the money to the actual sender of the drugs, who is based in Gujarat, through hawala channels,” said an ANC official.
“Dola was arrested in the year 1999 with 98 Mandrax tablets by the officials of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) at the airport. He was sent to 10 years imprisonment, but got bail from the high court in 2006. He then started dealing in charas,” another officer said.
The police is trying to find out the person who sent the drugs from Gujarat to Mumbai, and the state where the drug consignment originated, since charas is mostly produced in the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, and not Gujarat. All the three accused were arrested and produced in court on Wednesday that sent them to police custody till July 6.