Rs 1,000 crore drug haul: This could be gang's fourth import in a year
MUMBAI: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) investigating the recent smuggling of 191kg heroin worth Rs 1,000 crore from Afghanistan, suspect this could be the fourth time the gang had brought in drugs by falsely declaring them as raw licorice root glycyrrhiza glabra or mulethi (tree bark) used in Ayurvedic treatment.
Mulethi is used to improve immunity and treat acidity, cold, flu, blood pressure, diabetes and indigestion.
The three accused, Sarvesh Bhatia, the import export code (IEC) licence holder of Sarvim Exports, and his two associates, Mohammed Nauman and Mahendra Nigam, were produced before the Panvel district court, which remanded them to nine days of DRI custody.
Last week, DRI and the customs seized 191kg of heroin from a container at Nava Sheva. DRI arrested two custom house agents, Meenanath Bodake of M B Shipping & Logistics Solution and Kondibhau Pandurang Gunjal, who documented the import.
The three accused, Sarvesh Bhatia, the import export code (IEC) licence holder of Sarvim Exports, and his two associates, Mohammed Nauman and Mahendra Nigam, were produced before the Panvel district court, which remanded them to nine days of DRI custody.
Last week, DRI and the customs seized 191kg of heroin from a container at Nava Sheva. DRI arrested two custom house agents, Meenanath Bodake of M B Shipping & Logistics Solution and Kondibhau Pandurang Gunjal, who documented the import.
Inquiries revealed Bhatia was earlier arrested by Narcotic Control Bureau for supplying 1,200kg cannabis to Canada in 2007 and convicted to 10 years in prison. Nigam was held in a murder case in Delhi and Numan in a kidnapping case by the CBI.
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