Delhi Police Busts Cross Border Narcotics Syndicate

The Delhi Police has supposedly dismantled a cross-border narcotic syndicate on Wednesday. The syndicate was smuggling high-quality opium disguised as ‘anardana goli’, a popular digestive tablet made from pomegranate. The police also confirmed the arrest of two people from the racket that exploited Ayurvedic packaging to send narcotics to Canada and Australia.

The operation was spearheaded by the Crime Branch of Delhi Police on May 22, after officers received intel about a suspicious international shipment. The team later discovered 465 g of opium concealed in tablets that closely resembled Ayurvedic digestive tablets. The consignment was hidden between chocolates, clothes, and other innocuous items to avoid suspicion.

“The consignment was traced to Ludhiana, and a team launched a raid on May 24 and apprehended Lalit Ahuja, a local medical store owner. Another 7 g of identical opium tablets were recovered from his shop,” said DCP (Crime Branch) Harsh Indora.

Lalit has admitted that he had been procuring the drug from Harvinder Kumar, a wholesale medical dealer. “Lalit revealed a transnational web with Canada and Australia as key destinations, where the Punjabi diaspora community has created a demand for such narcotics. Harvinder handled procurement and packaging, while Lalit managed overseas dispatch,” further added the DCP.

According to the Delhi Police, the two arrested have been manufacturing opium in tablet form and packing it in counterfeit boxes resembling well-known herbal brands.