DRI busts cartel,seizes drugs worth Rs 35 crore

The accused were transporting 152 kg of ketamine,a party drug that costs about Rs 10 lakh a kg,mixed in pouches of mehndi powder to Malaysia on Singapore Airlines when they were caught at the IGI airport in Delhi,DRI officials said.

Gulati and Agarwal,who had obtained an Import Export Code on fake documents,told DRI officials that they had sent a dozen consignments abroad in similar manner.

On July 18,the DRI raided their godown in Delhi and recovered 200 kg of ketamine. In this consignment,they had mixed ketamine in solutions of rose water,liquid glucose and refined glycerine… The cash seized from their residence is said to be sale proceeds of previous consignments. They said the money came through hawala channels. We have identified some hawala operators and they will be called for questioning soon, said a senior DRI official.

The syndicate run by Gulati and Agarwal procured huge quantities of ketamine,which is used as animal anesthetic,from manufacturers in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh,mixed it with powder or dissolved it in liquid and sent it overseas using fake documents. The consignments,the accused told the interrogators,are sent abroad on ship or as air cargo.

We have registered a case and arrested two persons. Efforts are on to nab other members of the syndicate, said DRI ADG Rakesh Sharma.

Agarwal and Gulati have allegedly been running the cartel for several years but never came on the radar of investigating agencies.