Two held with mephedrone worth Rs 4 crore in Mumbai

On Friday, Mumbai police arrested two individuals in the western suburbs for possessing mephedrone valued at Rs 4 crore, an official said.

The crime branch`s Kurla unit apprehended the suspects, Abdul Karim Nazir Shaikh (44) and Yasin Ali Shaikh (29), with 2 kg of the drug near the Jogeshwari bus depot on Thursday. After interrogating them, police charged the men with drug trafficking in the area stated, reported news agency PTI.

According to an official, a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act has been registered, and a probe is underway, reported news agency PTI. 

1.4 Kg gold seized at Mumbai airport; customs nabs airport staff, foreign national

In a major crackdown, the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of Customs at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport has arrested an immigration staffer and a Bangladeshi national for their alleged involvement in a gold smuggling racket.

According to sources, the accused, identified as Anil Rai, was caught red-handed with 1.4 kg of gold worth several crores. Rai, a Class IV contractual employee with the immigration department for several years, reportedly received the gold from a transit passenger inside a restroom on Wednesday morning.

“Rai’s role was to collect the smuggled gold and hand it over to a receiver waiting outside the airport. However, before he could exit, customs officials detained him and recovered the gold during a thorough search,” said a source. During interrogation, Rai confessed that the gold was handed to him by Mohammed Imran Hossain, a Bangladeshi passport holder who had arrived from Dubai and was en route to Bangladesh. The handover reportedly took place near the toilet at the international transit transfer counter. 

The gold, concealed in pouches, weighed 1.4 kg and was seized.

Customs officials further revealed that Rai had previously helped bypass security checks and facilitated smuggling attempts for the syndicate.

In a joint interrogation, Hossain named a handler who is currently on the run. A manhunt has been launched to trace him and uncover other links in the smuggling network. Authorities are also probing the involvement of other immigration officials.

Both accused were produced before the Esplanade (Killa) Court on Thursday. Further investigations are underway.

(With PTI inputs)

This article first appeared on Mid Day