Cops alert as drug mafia alter strategy

The law enforcement agencies have stepped up their vigilance to bust the cartels of drug mafia, who have been continuously changing their modus operandi to escape stringent laws in India.

Sources revealed that packets of contraband are being concealed inside onion and red chillies in a shipment which is being exported from Maharashtra's Lasalgaon via Mumbai to different countries by the drug smugglers.

This new modus operandi came into light after Saudi Arab's law enforcers shared a video with different countries including India. In the video, the contraband packets were cleverly concealed in onions and sacks of red chillies to smuggle drugs.

The officials of Customs and CISF have stepped up security to check cargo at all airports in India.

“The drug mafia have now adopted a new modus operandi to smuggle the contraband. We have stepped up our vigilance on such exports and imports,” said an officer.

The youngsters are becoming easy target for drug peddlers. Earlier the accused in NDPS cases were acquitted due to the lack of evidence. In a bid to curb the menace of drug crime in the city, the Anti Narcotics Cell (ANC) is running Drugs Free Campus (DFC) campaign under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Shivdeep Lande.

The ANC officers have roped in thousands of students from city’s college and schools who keep a hawk eyes on drug peddlers around educational establishments. These students inform the concerned officer of ANC if they find any drug peddlers.

Recently, four drug peddlers, including Shrikant Mahadeo Loke, Firoz Hassinuddin Shaikh, Barkatali Babu Pathan and Mubarak Mohd Nazir Shaikh were arrested while selling marijuana near college areas of Charkop in Kandivali (west).

As a part of ongoing DFC campaign of Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC), one woman has been arrested from Churchgate area with 18 packets of marijuana weighing 30 gram in her possession. The woman Malan Venkatesh Kale (40) was arrested near a college where she was selling marijuana. The foreign nationals in the city are too behind peddling of drugs. All the units of ANC are working round the clock and have arrested six drug traffickers, all foreign nationals, with meow meow drug or MD and cocaine.

During night patrolling in the city, ANC officials have arrested six drug traffickers, all foreign nationals, including Matthew Okefor with 60 gram MD