Police recover 518 kg cocaine from pharma company in Gujarat

In a joint operation, the Delhi Police and Gujarat Police seized drugs worth about ₹5,000 crore in the international market

In a joint operation, the Delhi Police and Gujarat Police on Sunday (October 13, 2024) recovered 518 kg of cocaine, allegedly from the premises of a pharmaceutical company at Ankleshwar in Gujarat, a government official said. The value of the seized product in the international market is said to be about ₹5,000 crore, the official added.

The search was carried out at Aavkar Drugs Limited Company in Ankleshwar.

The seizure follows an ongoing operation by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police. On October 1, the Special Cell raided the warehouse of one Tushar Goyal in south Delhi’s Mahipalpur, where an alleged consignment of 562 kg of cocaine and 40 kg of hydroponic marijuana was seized.

“During the investigation, on October 10, about 208 kg of additional cocaine was recovered from a shop in Ramesh Nagar, Delhi,” the official said.

The probe found that the recovered drugs allegedly belonged to a company named Pharma Solution Services, and it was allegedly procured from Aavkar Drugs Limited Company.

According to publicly available information, Aavkar Drugs was incorporated in 2016, and in 2018, the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation allotted 4,733.50 sq. m. land at the Ankleshwar Industrial Estate to the said company.

A senior Delhi Police officer investigating the case said that the drug company was the first location at which the cocaine arrived after it entered India. “It is here that it was refined inside the pharma factory. It’s a walled compound with machinery in place; the factory is located in an industrial area,” he said.

The police have detained a few individuals working at the factory, and they are being interrogated. “We are verifying all versions and trying to understand the chain of supply from here, which will lead to further arrests. So far, only seven persons have been arrested,” he said.

“The value of the total drugs seized so far in the three operations stands at ₹13,000 crore,” the officer said. 

Published - October 13, 2024 11:19 pm IST