Ahmedabad, Oct 22 — A drug network allegedly sourcing heroin from Afghanistan and using women and family members to distribute smaller consignments was preparing to re-establish its links in Gujarat when police intercepted a vehicle carrying narcotics worth Rs 25.65 crore on the Ahmedabad-Vadodara Expressway.
The joint operation on October 21 led to the seizure of 4.531 kg of heroin and 2.498 kg of mephedrone, or MD, from a Mahindra XUV near the Ramol toll plaza.
Three men were arrested. Police said the consignment was intended for delivery at several locations across Gujarat, with the accused allegedly seeking to revive their distribution network and reconnect with local customers.
The Ahmedabad City Crime Branch put the international market value of the drugs at Rs 25,65,35,440. Including the vehicle and other seized items, the total value of the property was estimated at Rs 25,71,99,340.
The case has exposed the alleged workings of a network spanning international suppliers, interstate transporters and local drug peddlers.
Police Commissioner Anupam Singh Gahlaut said the group generally used women and family members to move smaller quantities of narcotics, allowing its members to maintain a distribution chain while limiting their own exposure.
“They use females and families to supply these narcotics to the peddlers or consumers. The arrested men had travelled to Gujarat themselves on this occasion because of the large consignment and their plans to rebuild their local links," he told IANS.
Police said the group was looking to distribute the drugs at six or seven locations in Gujarat.
Gahlaut said the consignment could have been intended for the coming festive period, including New Year celebrations on December 31, while the accused were allegedly seeking to reconnect with customers and revive their network amid intensified police action against drug trafficking across the state.
The alleged international supply chain leads to Rahmat Gul, a resident of Kandahar in Afghanistan, whom police identified as a source of heroin.
According to officials, Tifle Naukhez allegedly obtained heroin through this contact, with a person linked to the supply chain delivering it in Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar.
The group allegedly sourced mephedrone from Rajasthan. The route by which heroin enters India was a key focus of the investigation.
Gahlaut said drug smugglers had used land-border routes and that investigators were examining the Punjab and Rajasthan borders. Drones were also used as a method to move narcotics across border areas.
“It is very difficult to drop [drugs] by drone in Gujarat because it is totally marshy land. Either they use the Rajasthan border or the Punjab border,” he said.
The alleged network’s interstate reach extends beyond Gujarat. Police said its principal supply targets included Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat, while the accused had links to cases in Delhi, Punjab and Rajasthan.
The investigation began to take shape after the Surat Crime Branch pursued leads from an earlier drug case around a year and a half ago, tracing connections from peddlers and users towards the alleged suppliers and organisers.
Ahmedabad and Surat Crime Branch teams subsequently shared intelligence and monitored the suspects’ movements before intercepting their SUV on October 21. "The drugs were concealed in packets of instant drinks and raisins," officials said.
The arrested men are Kafeel Ahmed alias Javed, 59, and Tifle Naukhez, 44, both of whom reside in South Delhi, and Mohammed Imran alias Raja, 42, of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, who also has an address in South Delhi.
Police identified Kafeel as the alleged mastermind, citing his record in previous narcotics cases.
According to officials, Kafeel was sentenced to 15 years in a 2014 Jaipur case involving 18 kg of charas, 20 years in a case involving 3 kg of alprazolam and 10 years in a Gujarat case involving amphetamine.
Police said the combined sentences amounted to 45 years and that he had been released on bail in those cases.
Tifle was previously arrested in a 2014 heroin case near Amritsar, a 2019 Delhi Special Cell case involving 330 kg of heroin and Afghan nationals, and a 2021 case involving 54 kg of heroin.
Imran, who police said worked in catering and driving, allegedly helped transport the drugs in Tifle’s vehicle.
Police are also examining the network’s finances, including how payments were transferred across borders and whether cryptocurrency was used to move drug proceeds.
"Investigators would trace assets and properties allegedly acquired through the trade and examine action under the NDPS Act and the PIT-NDPS Act. The financial investigation is at an early stage, and police would coordinate with central agencies and law enforcement in other states," he told IANS.
The investigation is now focused on identifying the alleged recipient in Gujarat, named as Aslam, who police said lived in Rajkot, along with the Rajasthan-based source of the mephedrone and others involved in the heroin supply chain.
Police said further action would target the wider network of suppliers, distributors and local peddlers linked to the seized consignment.