According to an official statement on Thursday, 10 kilograms of high-grade heroin worth more than Rs 50 crore in the international market was recovered from three arrested persons in Manipur.
According to the Delhi Police Special Cell, with the arrest of Mitralal Khatiwoda alias Manoj (45), Krishna Neopani (21), and Akash Karki (25), all residents of Manipur, an inter-state narcotic syndicate was dismantled.
DCP, Special Cell, Amit Kaushik said, the Special Cell unit was monitoring an inter-state drug network operating in Manipur, West Bengal, the UP, and Delhi-NCR.
The syndicate was engaged in smuggling heroin from Myanmar into India through Manipur and further distributing it to various states, Kaushik said.
He said investigators spent more than four to five months gathering intelligence through technical and manual surveillance. During this time frame, police teams had gone to West Bengal and Manipur several times to physically trace the movements of the traffickers and develop local sources.
Based on an input, on January 23, a raiding team was constituted to apprehend Mitralal and Akash, who were to deliver a consignment of heroin to the Mangolpuri Industrial area of Delhi.
The two reached the spot in an e-rickshaw alongside their associate Krishna when they were identified by the informer, after which the police apprehended all the three suspects, he stated.
A thorough search led to the recovery of 10 kilograms of high-quality heroin, concealed inside their belongings. A case was registered, and an investigation was launched, he mentioned.
During interrogation, the accused revealed that they were part of a well-organised drug syndicate that smuggled heroin from Myanmar into India, DCP Kaushik said.
According to police, the operation started by procuring raw opium from the Myanmar border, which was converted into heroin at Thoubal in Manipur.
Officials said the drug was later transported via carriers to Dimapur (Nagaland), Guwahati (Assam), and Siliguri (West Bengal) before reaching Delhi-NCR.
Police claimed traffickers hid heroin in secret cavities within trucks to escape detection, thus making it almost impossible to spot during routine checks.
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