Gang smuggling opium from Northeast region busted

An inter-state drug cartel, involved in smuggling of high grade opium from the Northeast, Jharkhand and Bihar to the Delhi-NCR has been busted with the arrest of four traffickers, the city police said on Thursday.

A team of special cell under the supervision of ACP (special cell) Nishant Gupta arrested Shariyat Ali, Gopal, Javed and Sartaz Ali on a tip-off from Saboli area in Nand Nagri in east Delhi on May 16, said Sanjeev Yadav, DCP (special cell).

Shariyat Ali and Gopal had brought 69 kg of high grade opium from Nagaland in a truck owned by the latter. Javed and Sartaz had come to receive the drug supplies when they were caught by the special cell team.

During interrogation, Shariyat Ali revealed that a Saharanpur-based drug trafficker, Israr, was also scheduled to receive opium from him.

Israr, who was caught by the special cell team from Mukarba Chowk on May 17, revealed that he had planned to take opium from Shariyat Ali and supply it to Punjab.

Both Shariyat Ali and Gopal acted as carriers for a major drug peddler, Nizam, based in Nagaland, who collected opium and heroin from various small cultivators in the Northeast and supplied it to various middlemen located in Shahjahanpur, Bareilly and Allahabad, using trucks and other heavy vehicles to avoid being caught by the police and enforcement agencies.

Shariyat Ali revealed that he got Rs 50,000 for each consignment transported from Dimapur to Delhi, from Nizam. Gopal helped him in driving the truck owned by him.