Mumbai: Rs 5 crore worth opium seized near Kasara

Revenue officials found the opium concealed beneath the driver’s seat. Representative Pic

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Mumbai Zonal Unit, on Thursday arrested two persons, including the truck driver, for allegedly smuggling 9.69 kg of opium valued at over Rs 5 crore. The driver, identified as Bablu Khan, was traveling from Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh via the Nashik highway and was intercepted near Kasara.

According to the DRI officials, they had received specific intelligence about a large quantity of heroin, a substance regulated under the Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, being transported in a brown Ashok Leyland Ecomet truck travelling from Nashik towards Mumbai on NH 44.

Based on this information, an operation was planned, and a trap was set near Kasara, where they intercepted the truck. During the search, the revenue officials found the opium concealed in a packet beneath the driver's seat. Upon testing the substances with a field kit, the officials confirmed the presence of 9,690 grams of opium and 14 grams of ganja.

Following this, Khan was arrested, who then confessed that the opium was intended for delivery to an individual named Surjit Singh. The officials later in the day summoned and arrested Singh in connection with the case. The revenue intelligence suspects the involvement of a larger network in smuggling of the substance to Mumbai.

According to the officials, Khan received the parcel from a friend in Ratlam, identified as Niyamat Ali, in exchange for monetary compensation to transport the opium to Mumbai and deliver it to Singh. Investigations revealed that Singh and Ali are close associates and have been smuggling opium with Khan's help. Both Singh and Ali were arrested and produced in court on Thursday, where they were remanded in judicial custody.