NCB busts international drug syndicate; cocaine worth Rs 15 cr seized, 2 foreigners held
Mumbai (PTI): The Narcotics Control Bureau has busted an international drug syndicate and seized two kg of cocaine from a Zambian national in a hotel in Mumbai, an NCB official said on Monday.
A Tanzanian woman, who was to receive the consignment, has also been arrested from Delhi, the official said, adding the seized contraband is worth about Rs 15 crore.
Based on a specific information, the NCB Mumbai team conducted a raid in a hotel here and on Thursday apprehended Zambian national LA Gilmore, who was the drug carrier, he said.
The man had visited Addis Ababa (Ethiopia's capital) from Lusaka in Zambia for the drug consignment. After reaching Mumbai by a flight, he checked into a hotel.
The NCB team, which was monitoring his movements, conducted a search in his hotel room. They found a bag and after cutting it recovered two packets of cocaine weighing two kg, the official said.
During questioning, the man informed the NCB sleuths about some intermediaries in the region linked with drug trafficking.
It was also observed that he was being directed by a handler, the official said.
The NCB team then tactfully monitored the communication of Gilmore's handler, who told him to go to Delhi to deliver the drug.
The anti-drug agency's team from Mumbai then rushed to the national capital, where they maintained surveillance in the designated area for delivery.
A Tanzanian woman, named MR Augustino, who was to receive the consignment from Gilmore was intercepted and later arrested in from there on Saturday, the official said.
During the probe, the international network of the syndicate was found spread across multiple cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Goa, he said.
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BJP has history of ‘contradictory alliances’, says BK Hariprasad
Bengaluru: Congress MLC B. K. Hariprasad has launched a sharp attack on the BJP, accusing the party of hypocrisy over its criticism of alliance politics in Tamil Nadu.
In a post on X on Friday, Hariprasad said BJP leader B. L. Santhosh criticising the Congress party’s alliance politics in Tamil Nadu was “not just laughable, but the height of political contradiction.”
He said the Congress has always joined hands with like-minded parties to protect secular and democratic values in the country.
Hariprasad questioned the BJP over several of its past and present alliances across the country. Referring to Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Tripura, Bihar and Maharashtra, he accused the BJP of sharing power with parties it had earlier criticised.
He alleged that the BJP had aligned with separatist and corruption-linked political forces in different states for political gains.
“The BJP, which speaks against alliances today, should first look at its own political history,” he said, adding that the party’s record was full of “contradictions and changing stands.”
Hariprasad also accused the BJP of using central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax Department and CBI as political tools to target opposition leaders, topple governments and influence electoral mandates.
He further claimed that the people of Tamil Nadu had strongly rejected the BJP and its ideology in the recent election.
“Congress forms alliances to protect the Constitution, secularism and national unity, while the BJP enters into alliances only for power,” he said.
