370 kg of banned ephedrine worth Rs 125 crore was seized in the capital with the arrest of a Nigerian national and three other men, police said today as it claimed to have busted an international drug racket.
Nigerian Arther Frank (42), Mehboob Khan (68), Sandeep Bansal (36) and Krishan Kumar (42) were apprehended following investigations into a tip-off, DCP (Special Cell) Sanjeev Yadav said.
"Both technical and human surveillance was kept upon activities of members of this syndicate. After their arrests, we seized 370 kg ephedrine from them. The value of drugs is about Rs 125 crore," he said.
The Special Cell had received a tip-off that Khan, a resident of Thane in Maharashtra, would deliver a big consignment of ephedrine to Frank in east Delhi's Shakarpur on June 15.
Khan along with his aide had reached the spot in an autorickshaw and handed over the drug consignment to Frank when they were apprehended.
50 kg ephedrine was recovered from Frank while another 290 kg was recovered from Khan, Yadav claimed.
"They were acting on the behest of one Abu Dada alias Baba, who is based in Dubai. Khan and Frank acted as courier and supplied ephedrine to various Nigerian nationals in Delhi who smuggled it to other countries through courier," he said.
It also came to light during probe that on May 31, Drona, a prominent member of the syndicate, received a consignment of ephedrine from Bansal Pharma in Bhagirath Palace and sent it to Hapur in Uttar Pradesh to deliver it to a buyer.
"But later the Nigerian buyer insisted delivery in Delhi and consignment was brought to Delhi by Drona. Khan and his associate took delivery of the consignment of ephedrine," Yadav said.
On June 21, a raid was conducted at Bansal Pharma and Bansal was arrested. 20 kg ephedrine was found from Bansal's office.
Kumar, who had supplied the drug to Bansal, was arrested from Chandni Chowk and 10 kg ephedrine was seized from his possession. Both Bansal and Kumar are traders.
