Navi Mumbai: In a major anti-drug operation, the Navi Mumbai Police’s Anti-Narcotics Cell has arrested nine members of a Punjab-based drug trafficking gang and seized heroin worth Rs 47 lakh. The gang had allegedly been smuggling heroin from Punjab to Navi Mumbai over the past four to five months for local distribution.
The breakthrough came on July 4, when the Anti-Narcotics team raided a room at Sea Shore Lodge on Palm Beach Road in CBD Belapur. During the raid, officers seized 38.2 grams of brown heroin valued at Rs 15.28 lakh and arrested two suspects — Paramjit Singh Mahinder Singh (29) and Sukhwinder Dara Singh (35), both from Punjab.
During interrogation, the duo confessed they had brought the heroin to Navi Mumbai at the request of local contacts known as Monu and Diesel. Acting on this information, the police tracked and arrested Monu Chander Singh, Arvind Ramshankar Prasad alias Diesel, Manpreet alias Pappu Kumar, Harpreet Singh alias Happy, and Gurpreet Singh alias Pada from Diwale village in Belapur. From this group, the police seized an additional 80 grams of heroin worth Rs 32 lakh.
Further investigation revealed that four more individuals had recently arrived from Punjab with drugs, and two of them were located at a lodge in Kalamboli.
"A follow-up raid led to the arrest of Satnam Singh Sukhdev Singh and Sukhwinder Singh Mukanar Singh, bringing the total number of arrests to nine," assistant commissioner of police (crime branch) Ajay Landge said.
"All arrested individuals are residents of Punjab. The total quantity of heroin seized across all raids amounts to 118.2 grams, with a street value of approximately Rs 47 lakh," Senior Police Inspector Sandeep Nigde from Anti Narcotics Unit (ANU), said.
The operation was conducted under the guidance of Assistant Commissioner of Police Ashok Rajput and led by Senior Inspector Sandeep Nigde, with support from Assistant Police Inspectors Nilesh Dhumal and Suraj Gore, along with officers Ramesh Tayade, Dnyaneshwar Bankar, Krishnaraj Dhonde, and Khillare. Further investigation is underway to trace remaining members of the drug network.
