BENGALURU: City police have recorded their biggest drug haul after arresting three interstate peddlers and recovering narcotics worth Rs 37 crore from them.
The arrested accused are Rajeet Bhanu Gupta, 24, a resident of Bhayandar East, Maharashtra, and his associates Andran Gomes, 59, a resident of Mudichur, Chennai, and S Rajesh, 35, also from Tamil Nadu. Sources said four more suspects — one from Chennai and three from Mumbai — are still at large.
City police commissioner Kamal Pant said 6.5kg of MDA, 75 grams of cocaine, 300 grams of tramadol powder and 70kg of methaqualone, all together worth Rs 37 crore, were seized from the suspects. The value of the seized drugs is more than 10 times the value of the total narcotics seized in 2019. As per official data, city police seized drugs worth Rs 3.5 crore in 2019, Rs 21.4 crore in 2020, and around Rs 55 crore in 2021.
On March 25, a police team headed by Govindapura inspector Prakash R detained Gupta when he arrived near a forest area in HBR Layout to supply drugs to local peddlers. The cops seized 300 grams of tramadol powder, 6.5kg of MDA powder, and 75 grams of cocaine, all worth Rs 2.8 crore.
Gupta is said to have confessed and told police he had brought the drugs on behalf of his employer, Bhandari, to supply to his customers. Gupta’s arrest and the recovery of drugs were announced by the police a few days ago.
Preliminary probe revealed that Bhandari had allegedly procured MDA from one Yateen Jain of Mumbai, tramadol from Antran Gomes of Chennai, and cocaine from Chetan Mehta of Mumbai. He then sent them for supply in Bengaluru.
Police traced Gomes to Chennai and a team rushed to the city and arrested him and his associate Rajesh. The cops seized 70kg of methaqualone, a synthetic drug worth around Rs 35 crore, from them.
