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The Mumbai crime branch has arrested a person believed to be a key accused in a case pertaining to the smuggling of ephedrine worth Rs 8 crore to Australia and the UK by concealing it in air cargo.
Officers identified the arrested individual as Ali Asgar Shirazi. The police had been tracking him in Srinagar and Delhi before eventually arresting him from Mumbai airport as he tried to flee. An officer said, “A Look Out Circular (LOC) had been issued against him. As he tried to leave for Dubai, the airport authorities informed us following which we took him into custody.”
“He is an important catch. We suspect he was second in command after Kailash Rajput in operating this network,” an officer said. The crime branch had found that in the six months preceding the arrests made in the case on March 15, there were nearly 72 instances when such contraband is believed to have been sent abroad.
Apart from the seven arrests made so far, the police have issued three LOCs, including one against international drug lord Kailash Rajput. “We suspect the entire operation was part of Rajput’s network. He is a wanted accused in several cases of narcotics across the country,” the official added.
Investigators have sought more details from other central agencies about Rajput’s network in order to find out who else is part of his operations in the country, the official said.
In a raid conducted by the crime branch at a unit in Andheri on March 15, the police seized 15.74 kg of ketamine worth Rs 7.87 crore and over 23,000 strips of Viagra tablets worth Rs 58 lakh, and arrested two persons. Later five more persons were arrested in the case.
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