Rs 1,745 crore cocaine seized near Mumbai; Amit Shah praises NCB, vows crackdown on drug cartels

The Narcotics Control Bureau NCB has seized 349 kilograms of highgrade cocaine worth Rs 1745 crore near Mumbai following which Union Home Minister Amit Shah praised the agency for the major seizure and vowed to crackdown on drug cartelsOfficials described the operation as one of the largest drug seizures in recent timesIn a post shared on X Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the government is determined to ruthlessly crush the narcotics cartelThe operation named ldquoWhite Strikerdquo took place in Mumbai and nearby areas an official statement saidThe success followed more than six months of intelligence gathering and surveillance Acting on specific inputs NCB teams carried out coordinated raids in the Navi MumbaindashThane region especially along the KalamboliBhiwandi logistics corridor it saidInvestigations so far has revealed that it was a wellorganised international drug trafficking network using warehouses and hidden transport systems officials saidTwostage seizure OperationAccording to the statement the operation was carried out in two stages In the first raid NCB officers intercepted a vehicle near a warehousing complex in Kalamboli Navi Mumbai A search led to the discovery of 136 packets of cocaine each weighing about 1 kgThe drugs were hidden inside cartons using cricket pads and gloves to avoid detection One person was arrested at the spotInvestigating further and based on further questioning officials uncovered a second stash in Bhiwandi a key warehousing hub A followup raid recovered an additional 213 packets of cocaine from a warehouse bringing the total to 349 kg the statement saidInvestigators found that the cocaine had been concealed inside imported machinery Each packet was wrapped in multiple layers of polythene including a layer coated with a greasy substance to avoid detectionThe officials stated that it is believed that the operations involved a structured supply chain including import storage and distribution through warehouse networksNCB officials are now working to identify and arrest the key figures behind the network including the main organiser financiers and receiversThe bottomtotop approachAnnouncing the seizure on X Shah said We are resolved to ruthlessly crush the narcotics cartelThe Narcotics Control Bureau has cracked down on a major international narcotics ring seizing 349 kg of highgrade cocaine worth Rs 1745 crore in Mumbai This is a trailblazing example of a bottomtotop approach where the agency traced back a smaller consignment to net a massive network Congratulations to team NCB for this monumental success Shah saidWe are resolved to ruthlessly crush the narcotics cartelThe narcoticsbureau has cracked down on a major international narcotics ring seizing 349 kgs of HighGrade cocaine worth Rs1745 crore in Mumbai This is a trailblazing example of bottom to top approach where the agencyhellipmdash Amit Shah AmitShah May 1 2026The operation was carried out under the broader antidrug policy of the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi the officials saidHuge seizure comes after Dolas deportationThe seizure comes days after Salim Dola a drug trafficker and aide of international terrorist Dawood Ibrahim was brought to India from TurkiyeMeanwhile a Mumbai court on Thursday remanded alleged drug trafficker Salim Dola to the custody of NCB until May 8 in connection with a 2023 drug seizure case