The CBI has significantly increased the rate of fugitive repatriation, bringing back 134 individuals in the last five years, doubling the number from the previous decade. This success is attributed to enhanced diplomatic efforts, technological advancements, and improved coordination with Interpol.
Seizures were made to stop any inducement of voters in Maharashtra, where polling will take place on November 20.
The poll-panel called these seizures by its various field and technical enforcement teams a "historic milestone" achieved "for the first time in any assembly electoral process", meaning during simultaneously-held assembly polls.
A total of 149 kgs of mephedrone or 'meow meow' drug (both in powder and liquid form), 50 kg ephedrine, and 200 litres of acetone was recovered from the three labs located in Bhinmal of Jalore district and Osian in Jodhpur district of Rajasthan and Gandhinagar in Gujarat, the officer said.
Over Rs 313 crore in cash has been seized by Election Commission since the announcement of the 16th general elections with Andhra Pradesh topping the list in cash and liquor interceptions during this period.
Based on the estimate, a courier bringing in 1 kg of gold currently worth around $40,000 at world prices could earn $470 if not caught.
According to officials, this year there has been a three-fold increase in the total seizure, which was Rs 322 crore in 2021, Rs 347 crore in 2022 and Rs 1,021 crore so far in 2023.
The raids were conducted by the Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad and Narcotics Control Bureau jointly on Friday after the ATS received a tip-off that Ahmedabad resident Manoharlal Enani and Kuldeepsinh Rajpurohit of Rajasthan had set up mephedrone manufacturing units, the official said on Saturday.
The rise in illegal imports of the yellow metal has caught the eye of the finance ministry.
Search of two premises of a firm called Apex Medichem Private Limited on Saturday led to the seizures, he said.
The police have so far seized approximately 1,700 kg of mephedrone from Pune and a couple of locations in Delhi.
Based on information received from those arrested, a raid was conducted at Delhi's Kotla Mubarakpur on Tuesday, a police officer said.
He had taken charge as the 25th director general of the Indian Coast Guard on July 19 last year.
The drug network was busted based on an intelligence input received by the Crime Branch, he said, adding that three persons were arrested and a case has been registered by the DRI.
The arrests have been made by officials of Sector 126 police station as part of a crackdown on narcotics ordered by police commissioner Laxmi Singh, deputy commissioner of police (Noida) Harish Chander said.
The National Investigation Agency arrested an Afghan national in connection with the seizure of 2,988 kg of heroin at Mundra port in Gujarat, an official said on Tuesday.
The Narcotics Control Bureau on Tuesday claimed to have busted the "biggest" darknet-based LSD cartel operating in India with the seizure of more than 13,000 blots and Rs 26 lakh in cash and the arrest of three persons.
The request is under "active consideration" of the Union home ministry, he said.
After tracking the movement at about 1.30 am, the spokesperson said an Army ambush, on challenging them, was fired upon and in the retaliatory firefight some terrorists have been hit.
The ICG and Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad apprehended the fishing boat in a joint operation in the high seas on Sunday afternoon, the coast guard said in a release in Ahmedabad.
The Customs department suspects that the contraband, which originated from Afghanistan and Pakistan, had either fallen or was dumped by foreign vessels for the purpose of smuggling, he said.
The court was considering the petition of the NCB seeking the custody of Pakistan national accused Zubair Derakshshandeh for five days from today.
'In a joint operation carefully planned by the NCB and the Indian Navy in the high seas, NCB officials have successfully seized around 529 kg of very high quality of hashish, 234 kg of finest quality of crystal methamphetamine and some quantity of heroin,' the anti-drug agency said in a release.
The NCB had sought custody of Zubair Derakshshandeh for five days from May 22, said advocate B A Aloor who is representing the accused in the case.
Restrictions imposed across the globe in 2020-21 due to coronavirus and the increased use of darknet resulted in two-to-three times jump in drug trafficking through couriers and postal services in India during this period, a latest NCB report has said.
The DMK also warned of legal action against those who attempt to link Sadiq with either the party or its leaders.
A special NDPS Act court in Mumbai on Tuesday granted bail to two persons arrested in a drug seizure case in which Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan is one of the accused.
The NCB recovered 86.5 gm ganja during the search at the couple's residence and office.
As many as 18 arrests have been made in the cruise ship raid case so far.
A court at Bhiwandi in Thane district of Maharashtra on Friday remanded Iqbal Kaskar, underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's brother, in the custody of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) for seven days to facilitate his questioning in a drugs case.
A sessions court in Palanpur town of Gujarat's Banaskantha district on Wednesday convicted former Indian Police Service officer Sanjiv Bhatt in a drug seizure case dating back to 1996.
Former Mumbai Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) chief Sameer Wankhede appeared before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in Mumbai for the second day on Sunday in a case in which he is accused of demanding Rs 25 crore bribe from superstar Shah Rukh Khan for not implicating his son Aryan in the Cordelia cruise 'drug bust' case, an official said.
The NCB claimed that 'incriminating' evidence comprising of digital evidence, call record details, WhatsApp chats, location tags, video and voice recordings, and several other documents had been submitted.
The anti-drugs agency had earlier arrested nine people, including Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan, after raiding the Goa-bound ship on Saturday.
During a review, the EC found that the performance of some officers was "unsatisfactory" and they were found "complacent, if not complicit" in various matters, including the illegal supply of liquor as a possible poll inducement, sources said.
Aryan Khan, the son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, approached the Bombay High Court on Wednesday, seeking bail in connection with the case of seizure of banned drugs aboard a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast.
The central agency booked Wankhede and four others on May 11 for alleged criminal conspiracy and threat of extortion, besides under provisions pertaining to bribery under the Prevention of Corruption Act on a complaint by the NCB.
The petition, filed through advocate Rizwan Merchant, claimed that after concluding the investigation in the case, a draft complaint was prepared by the department legal advisor, where charges were proposed against Aryan Khan among others.
Wankhede, whose interim protection from arrest in the Central Bureau of Investigation's case of extortion and bribery against him was on Thursday extended by the HC till June 23, in his rejoinder affidavit claimed the SET has 'twisted facts and labelled false allegations to jeopardise the career and character of honest officials'.
Besides Khan, the bail application of other accused Nupur Satija and Munmun Dhamecha will also be heard on Wednesday.
