New Delhi, Feb 23 (PTI) The Delhi Police has dismantled an international drug trafficking syndicate with alleged links to the United Kingdom and seized over 18 lakh psychotropic tablets worth Rs 9 crore in the illicit market, an officer said on Monday.

Five people have been arrested in this connection with the case, which exposed an organised pharmaceutical drug network that operated through logistics firms, courier services and export consignments to smuggle prohibited medicines abroad.

"The case dates back to October 7 last year, when a team of the crime branch acted on specific intelligence and laid a trap in Sarita Vihar. Around 6.30 pm, the team apprehended Mohammad Abid (50) and recovered 54,000 Tramadol Hydrochloride tablets, weighing 14.472 kilograms," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Vikram Singh said in a statement.

An FIR was filed and further investigation was initiated, during which the police unravelled the supply chain of the syndicate. Abid disclosed that he procured the tablets from Javed Khan, his relative and son-in-law. Khan was arrested on October 30 and during questioning, named Sunil Kumar, owner of Prahlad Logistics in Samalka, as his source.

Sunil Kumar was arrested on November 2, last year and he, in turn, disclosed the name of Vishnu Dutt Sharma as the supplier. Sharma, who works as an exporter, was also arrested on November 2. He revealed further links to Vikash Singh alias Ishwar Singh and TC Sedana. Vikash Singh was arrested on November 6. Proceedings are underway to declare another associate, Naushad alias Bablu, a proclaimed offender.

According to the police, Sharma had exported a container to the United Kingdom under the guise of household goods, concealing 32 boxes containing Tramadol and other prohibited tablets. On receiving this information, the Crime Branch coordinated with Customs authorities and ensured that the consignment was held. The shipment was not delivered in the UK and was returned to India.

The container arrived at the T-3 Terminal at Mundra Port in Gujarat. On February 16, after obtaining police custody remand, a joint raid was conducted at Warehouse at the Mundra Port, in the presence of a Drugs Inspector, an FSL team and the Customs SIT.

During the raid, a massive consignment of psychotropic substances was recovered and seized. The recovery included 13,80,000 Alprazolam tablets, weighing 404.340 kg, 1,95,800 Alprazolam tablets, weighing 48.950 kg, 94,000 Tramadol tablets, weighing 25.568 kg, 41,600 Tramadol tablets, weighing 10.940 kg, 30,000 Zolpidem tablets, weighing 11.340 kg and 52,000 Nitrazepam tablets, weighing 12.792 kg.

Combined with the earlier recovery of 54,000 Tramadol tablets, the total seizure stands at 18,47,400 tablets weighing 528.402 kg, the officer said.

The police said Abid, a resident of Madanpur Khadar, earlier ran an animal feed business before becaming involved in local distribution of psychotropic substances. Javed Khan, as a Customs House Agent, allegedly used his knowledge of documentation and clearance procedures to facilitate movement of prohibited consignments.

Sunil Kumar allegedly used his warehouse infrastructure at Prahlad Logistics in Samalka to store and transport the contraband. Sharma, a Master of Computer Applications graduate, has been engaged in exporting household goods to the UK for several years and allegedly misused his export platform to conceal the substances. Vikash Singh, a B.Sc graduate who runs a cargo courier service, allegedly played a role in coordinating and transporting illegal pharmaceutical consignments through his network. PTI BM AKY