Delhi Police’s special cell arrested an important figure in an inter-state drug syndicate on Tuesday. Accordingto the police announcement they arrested the individual from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh and were able to seize a large quantity of illicit substances that amounted to the value of Rs 8 crore. They offcials further stated that operation also enabled them to recover close to 6.5 tablets/capsules of tramadol and over 44,000 bottles of codeine- based cough syrup, along with documents and mobile phones as evidence
The arrested suspect has been identified as a 43 year-old Yusuf Azam, residing im Mahmood Nagar Chowk, Lucknow. He was taken into custody on April 8 from a hideout and a case was registered against him under sections 22/29 of the NDPS Act.
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Detailing the case, DCP (special cell) Manoj C asserted, “In October 2023, the Special Cell (SWR) had arrested three members of the syndicate, including Md Faizan Beg from Delhi, Md Zubair from Uttar Pradesh, and Rekha from Delhi, leading to significant recoveries of psychotropic substances. Subsequent investigations and arrests uncovered additional members, with Yusuf Azam identified as the kingpin.”
The probe unvieled that Faizan and Zubair had procured the psychotropic medicines from two other individials, Rahul and Tushar, who were also arrested after rigorous investigation. According to the reports, the investigation and analysis of financial and phone records revealed that Yusuf Azam was the mastermind behind the drug syndicate.
Further elaborating on the investigation to track Yusuf, DCP MAnoj stated,””Multiple raids were conducted at his hideouts, as he continuously evaded arrest by changing locations. Through meticulous manual and technical efforts, his whereabouts were traced to Transport Nagar, Lucknow.”
Yusuf was arrested after a raid was executed at his hideout on April 8 and he had been placed under a five day police custody remand, marking the seventh arrest in the ongoing case.
During the interrogation, Yusuf Azam revealed that he had been involved in the busiess of illegal drug trade for the last 15 years. He also disclosed that he operated a pharmaceutical firm called AK Pharma and even acquired licenses from other firms to get psychotropic medicines in huge amounts. He sold all the illegal drugs in the grey market without invoices for a substantial profit.
The investigation, further, revealed that Yusuf Azam had previously been arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) also in the year 2013 under the NDPS Act for the procurement and supply of the contraband ‘Codeine’ in Lucknow.
The investigation is still on-going with authorities focusing on dismantling the entire drug network and bringing all perpetrators to justice.
