Mumbai:
Police today claimed to have busted an inter-state drugs racket with the arrest of a person and seizure of over 6.5 kg of charas worth Rs 5.20 lakh in the local market, and Rs 70 lakh in the international market.
On a tip off, a trap was laid and a Maruti Swift car driven by Nitin Chikne was intercepted at Bandra Kurla Complex in the city yesterday, Anti Narcotics Cell officials said.
"Upon search, it was found that the contraband was smartly concealed in an empty CNG cylinder. After grilling Chikne, who is a resident of Antop Hill area, one more vehicle -- Qualis -- was seized from the city today. A total of 6.5 kg of charas hidden in the empty CNG cylinders was confiscated from both the vehicles," Deputy Police Commissioner (ANC)
Sunil Paraskar said.
Chikne was produced before a local court which remanded him to police custody till January 18, police said.
The probe revealed that the accused smuggled charas here from Jammu and Kashmir and for every consignment, he was paid Rs 20,0000.
Chikne had gone to Ajmer a few months ago for work where he met the drug traffickers at an eatery. After learning that he was a driver by profession, they lured him into smuggling drugs, Paraskar said.
Further investigation is on, and police are trying to nab the buyers as well as the suppliers, he said, adding drugs would have fetched Rs 70 lakh in the international market.
The vehicles escaped check-points in other cities on their way to Mumbai probably because police there did not think of opening the CNG cylinders, he said.
"This is how the accused managed to smuggle the contraband into the city safely," Paraskar said.