Two drug rackets operating in Delhi busted

New Delhi: With the arrest of two persons and recovery of drugs like pseudoephedrine and hashish worth crores of rupees, Delhi Police today claimed to have busted two drug rackets operating in the national capital.

The accused have been identified as Ram Kumar (22) and Mahmood Alam (39), arrested in two separate operations, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Yadav said.

Based on tip-offs, the police laid traps near Nirman Vihar metro station in east Delhi and on Dichaun-Hirankudna Road on the southwestern part of the city, leading to the arrest of Kumar and Alam respectively.

From Kumar’s possession, police recovered around 50 kg pseudoephedrine estimated to be worth around Rs 5 crore in the international market. Another team recovered around 3 Kg hashish worth around Rs 6 lakh from Alam’s possession.

“During Kumar’s interrogation, it emerged that one Brijesh Kumar Pandey is running an inter-state syndicate, who is indulged in illegal trade of pseudoephedrine in connivance,” Yadav said.

Pseudoephedrine is a drug which is legitimately manufactured and used for pharmaceutical purposes. However, it is sometime illegally manufactured and supplied to members of drug cartels in Delhi and other states, he said.

This drug is then illegally smuggled to Canada and some European countries where it is used to manufacture party drugs, he said.

Alam on the other hand procured hashish from a Nepal-based dealer. Efforts are on to crack both the networks, police said.