Operation Crystal Fortress: How police zeroed in on a Rs 262-crore stash of meth in box-bed

The two drug peddlers have been identified as Shane Warris (25) from Amroha, Uttar Pradesh, and Esther Kimmi (43) from Dimapur, Nagaland.

This transnational racket, operated from Dubai, was busted through the inter-state coordination between the police forces of Delhi and Nagaland, along with the NCB. On Sunday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah praised the police forces and the NCB for the breakthrough.

The recovered consignment of methamphetamine, also known as the “Ice” drug because of its white, crystal-like appearance and its high demand at rave parties, is worth around Rs 262 crore in the international market, said officials.

Officers suspect that the consignment had been brought to the national capital for distribution across other parts of India and abroad. They also said that it could be one of the biggest land seizures of this party drug.

It is also being suspected that the raw drug material may have come from Myanmar or Afghanistan, and was later refined in a clandestine lab in India.

On receiving a secret tip-off, the NCB began investigating the procurement and supply of meth in Delhi and its neighbouring areas in July.

A team led by DDG (Operations) NCB Neeraj Gupta, along with 20 officers, was assigned to the task. The operation was led by Manishi Chandra of the Delhi Police’s Special Cell and his team of about 15 personnel also joined the investigation.

Based on the tip-offs, officials from both units conducted surveillance on the suspects. When they determined that the time was right, they, with the help of the Nagaland Police, managed to crack the case with the arrest of Warris in Noida.

Following his questioning, the officials conducted a raid at a multi-storey residential complex in Chattarpur on November 20. The consignment was kept in a bed box on the fourth floor, which was being used as a guest house for people from the Northeast. The guest house was run by Kimmi and her son, which they would give to the people on Rs 3,000 per day, with meals. At the time of the raid, she was not present at the premises, and she was subsequently apprehended in Dimapur.

There are six persons, including Aarif, who are on the radar of the agencies. Warris was operating as a sales manager in Noida, while Kimmi was running the PG accommodation in Chattarpur. Both were functioning in different chains of the syndicate, as they had different handlers via WhatsApp and Zangi, the sources said. Warris had been in contact for the past few years with Aarif Siddiqui of Delhi’s Jamia Nagar, who is currently based in Dubai. Agency officials suspect that Aarif was directly connected to Warris, while Kimmi was handled by another individual in Dubai, who is believed to be the main kingpin of the drug cartel.

On Monday, following the operation, the NCB and the Special Cell conducted raids at the residence of Siddiqui, located in Abul Fazal Enclave in Jamia Nagar, Southeast Delhi.

The agencies suspect that he fled to Dubai a year ago, as his flat on the fifth floor of the multi-storey residential building was found locked. After conducting searches at the flat for nearly two hours, the officials pasted a notice at his residence.

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