518 kg drugs recovered in Gujarat, 5 arrested

New Delhi: In a joint operation of Delhi and Gujarat Police, at least 518 kilograms of cocaine were recovered from Gujarat’s Ankleshwar on Sunday and five people were arrested, officials said.

The officials said the new seizure was connected to the recovery of 700 kilograms of cocaine in Delhi. With this, 1,289 kg of cocaine and 40 kg of hydroponic marijuana, worth more than Rs 13,000 crore, have been recovered so far. The number of arrests in this connection has risen to 12.

Sources said this is believed to the biggest-ever seizure by any agency in the country.

According to a Delhi Police officer, during investigations into the previous seizure of 700 kg of cocaine, the Special Cell found the drugs were brought from Avkar Drugs Limited Company in Ankleshwar.

On Sunday, a team of the Special Cell was sent to Gujarat and the cocaine was recovered from the company’s godown, the officer said, adding five people were also arrested from the spot.

Police said the accused are being further interrogated regarding the alleged international syndicate running from Dubai and UK.

On October 2, the Special Cell seized more than 560 kg of cocaine and 40 kg of hydroponic marijuana estimated to be worth Rs 5,620 crore from a godown in south Delhi’s Mahipalpur and arrested four people. Two others were subsequently apprehended from Amritsar and Chennai.

Then in the second big drugs haul in a week, the Special Cell seized 208 kg of cocaine worth Rs 2,080 crore from a rented shop in west Delhi on Thursday.

On Thursday, police arrested one more person from Uttar Pradesh’s Hapur. He was the seventh person to be arrested in the case.