ED registers money laundering case in recent Delhi drugs bust, conducts searches

The Enforcement Directorate Friday said it has registered a money laundering case into the recent mega narcotics seizure in the national capital and conducted searches in Delhi, Mumbai and Gurugram.

The Delhi Police Special Cell on October 2 seized over 560 kg cocaine and 40 kg hydroponic marijuana, estimated to be worth Rs 5,620 crore, from a godown in the Mahipalpur area of south Delhi.

Seven people have been arrested by the police in the case till now.

“Key financial documents which have details of the financial activities of the accused as well as the details regarding the movable and immovable properties of the accused and their family members have been recovered,” the federal probe agency said in a statement.

The raids were undertaken in Delhi, Gurugram and Mumbai.

The agency took cognisance of the police FIR filed against accused Tushar Goel, Himanshu Kumar, Aurangzeb Siddiqui and Bharat Kumar to press sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to launch its own investigation.

The agency raided the premises of various persons and suspects including that of main accused Tushar Goel and his wife in Vasant Enclave and Rajouri Garden areas of Delhi.

The residential premises of Himanshu Kumar in Prem Nagar in Delhi and that of Bharat Kumar in Nalasopara, Mumbai, were also being searched.

The business premises of Tushar Books Publication Private Limited and Tulip Publications Private Limited in Jhandewalan area of Delhi and ABN Buildtech Private Limited in Gurugram were also raided, as per the ED.

These companies are “owned and controlled” by Goel and his family members.

“Main accused Tushar Goel alias Dikki had stored the above consignment of narcotic substances at his family owned godown in Mahipalpur. He had visited Dubai and Thailand in June this year and had met other associates in order to plan the movement and distribution of narcotic drugs,” the ED claimed.

Goel has been acting in connivance with a Dubai-based mastermind who has previously been linked with the supply of cocaine and other narcotic and psychotropic substances, it said.

The ED will question the accused and also attach thier assets after the proceeds of crime in this money laundering case are ascertained, agency sources said.

In the second such narcotics haul in quick succession, the Delhi Police Thursday (October 10) seized 208 kg of cocaine worth Rs 2,080 crore from a rented shop in west Delhi’s Ramesh Nagar area.

The second case is linked to the October 2 case. The ED is probing this drugs haul too, they said.