Nigerian among 5 held with drugs worth over Rs 21 lakh in Thane

Police have arrested five people, including a Nigerian national and a woman, and seized mephedrone, a banned drug, worth Rs 21.80 lakh from their possession in different raids here in Maharashtra, an official said on Tuesday.

The raids conducted on Sunday in Mumbra town of Thane district following a tip-off, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Kalwa division, Venkat Andale told reporters. The police laid a trap at the Khadi Machine Road and M M Valley in Mumbra and nabbed the accused when the arrived to sell the contraband, he said.

The police seized a total of 218 gm of mephedrone powder, also known as MD, from their possession, he said.

Those arrested were identified as Izobialo Ugochiku Sunde (33), Shama Hassan Sayyed (37), Hidayat Mohammad Hasam Ansari (50), Firoz Shoukat Khan (35) and Sayyed Nasim Ali Kadir Ali (41).

Three other men and a woman escaped during the raids, the official said.

The arrested accused were booked under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, he said, adding that police were trying to find out the source of the drug and to whom it was to be sold.

The police were also probing if there a major drug smuggling racket operating here and if more peddlers were involved in it, the official said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)