Delhi drug seizure: Ahead of New Year's celebration, 30 kg 'Malana cream' worth Rs 18 crore seized; dealer arrested

A drug dealer was detained by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police while operating in Alipur, and 30 kg of party drugs worth Rs 18 crore were seized from his procession. The party drug known as "malana cream" or "A-grade Hashish" reportedly came from an interstate drug trafficking organisation operating in the Delhi and NCR region.

The accused has been identified as a 30-year-old Khanna Khurd resident who lives close to Ludhiana in Punjab. As the celebrations for the new year were about to start, Rajesh Kumar, the accused, is accused of selling more than 45 kg of "malana cream" for more than Rs 28 crore over the previous three months in Uttar Pradesh and the Delhi NCR.

When did the police get the information about the drug smuggling?

Malana in Himachal Pradesh is well known for producing charas, or hashish. In the second week of November, information was received, according to Pramod Singh Kushwah, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell), that members of a drug trade based in Kullu, Himachal Pradesh, were distributing drug dealers in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh with large quantities of the narcotic drug "Malana Cream (A-grade Hashish)" for new year's parties.

A police team was assigned to the investigation based on the information. According to intelligence, Rajesh was smuggling drugs into the Delhi and UP. In order to expose this plan, informers were placed throughout Delhi and Kullu, and routine and operational surveillance was positioned.

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How did police catch the drug dealer?

On December 9, specific information was received indicating that Rajesh had purchased a sizable amount of malana cream from a vendor based in Kullu for later dispatch in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh using a Bolero pickup. "Additionally, we have heard that he will distribute marijuana near the Radha Krishan Mandir on GT Karnal Road close to Alipur.

Consequently, a trap was set after which Rajesh was caught, according to DCP Khushwah. During the search, 10 kg of high-quality hashish, a popular party drug, was found in a backpack, and the rest 20 kg was hidden in a spare tire kept in the car.

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What police have recovered during interogation?

During questioning, it was discovered that Rajesh had contact with a drug dealer based in Kullu about six months ago who hired him to smuggle drugs to Delhi-NCR and Uttar Pradesh. As per official, Rajesh would receive Rs 12,000 per kilogramme for each delivery.

He had transported 45 kg of narcotics from Kullu over the previous three months and delivered them to various recipients in Delhi/NCR and UP. The DCP stated that measures are being taken to locate and capture the drug's supplier and recipients.

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(With inputs from IANS)