Drug trafficker held; supplied heroin to Delhi-ncr
NEWDELHI: A 37-year-old Bareilly-based alleged interstate drug trafficker, who supplied heroin to Delhi-ncr after procuring it from Maoist-affected areas in West Bengal and Jharkhand, was arrested on Tuesday by the Delhi Police special cell from his native village, police said Thursday.
Special cell sleuths said the alleged drug trafficker, Ashfaq Khan, was into the illegal trade for more than a decade and he has supplied 80 to 100 kilograms of heroin to drug dealers in DelHI-NCR during this period.
Deputy commissioner of police (special cell) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav said Khan was also procuring heroin from northeastern states such as Manipur, Nagaland and Assam, where the contraband is smuggled in from the world’s “Golden Triangle” (Myanmar, Laos and Thailand), which is home to cartels producing and moving heroin and methamphetamine across Asia.
Yadav said the special cell team had been looking for Khan since February 2018 when they arrested his three associates – Ram Nath, Virender Pal Singh and Parvej Khan — with five kilograms of heroin. Their interrogation revealed that they were working for Khan, who was the main supplier of heroin in Delhi-ncr via Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly, Yadav said.
The police had announced a ₹50,000 reward on his arrest. Several police teams were camping in Bareilly to nab Khan.
“On Tuesday, t he team received information that Khan, the accused, would be visiting his native village in Bareilly. Accordingly, a trap was laid and Khan was arrested,” Yadav said.
During his questioning, the DCP said Khan revealed that he belongs to Behara village in Bareilly, where earlier opium was grown in a legally for medicinal and pharmaceutical use. However, some villagers stealthily diverted part of the opium and used it for manufacturing heroin.
“Khan was involved in this. After the ban on the cultivation of opium in Badaun and Bareilly districts, Khan started procuring heroin from drug dealers of Maoist-affected areas of Jharkhand and West Bengal. He further supplied the contraband to Delhi-ncr using drug mules,” Yadav said.
Police said Khan was last arrested in 2013 by the Delhi Police crime branch. However, he got bail within four months of his arrest and continued his activities.