Customs official held for meow meow theft

DELHI POLICE have arrested a customs officer for allegedly stealing and selling the drug mephedrone, popularly known as meow meow, in the capital.

Police said the officer stole the drugs from the storeroom of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) at IGI airport.

The officer had been on the run since August — after his name surfaced following the arrest of eight people running a drug racket in the capital. He was arrested last week, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Sanjeev Yadav said.

Sources said the officer, Puneet Kumar, was in-charge of keeping a tab on the seized DRI stock at the airport.

During interrogation, he told police that he sold 4 kg of the drugs to one Mahender Rana, who has also been arrested, in four installments. He took Rs 50,000 each time.

He said the drugs were part of the stock seized by DRI and kept at IGI. In February, 2015 the DRI had seized 500 kg of meow meow — the largest seizure of this specific drug in the capital.

Kumar, posted as the store incharge for more than a year, told police he wanted to earn easy money and gift a house to his second wife. Police have written to the customs department to verify the amount of stolen drugs.

Police said Kumar visited Uttarakhand, Maharashstra and Kerala when he was on the run.

The racket was busted when a team of Special Cell received a tip-off about an alleged drug supplier receiving a consignment in Delhi. Following his arrest on July 23, police arrested seven more people from Delhi, including Rana, and said they had recovered 14 kg of meow meow.