80kg of cocaine worth $106mn seized in Delhi, Home Minister Shah lauds NCB

India’s Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Friday (Nov 15) that the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) had seized 80 kg of cocaine worth around $106 million and vowed that his ministry’s hunt against drug rackets will continue. Two people, one resident of Delhi and the other of Haryana’s Sonipat were detained in the case. The drugs were confiscated from the Janakpuri and Nangloi areas of the national capital on Thursday (Nov 14).

The seizure happened on a day when about 700 kg of methamphetamine was seized off the coast of the Indian state of Gujarat on Thursday following a joint operation by the NCB, the Indian Navy and the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS). The operation by the three forces led to the arrest of eight Iranian nationals.

Taking to social media site X on Friday, Shah wrote, “The back-to-back major breakthroughs against illegal drugs in a single day demonstrate the Modi government’s unwavering resolve to build a drug-free Bharat. The NCB today confiscated 82.53 kg of high-grade cocaine in New Delhi.”

“Our hunt against drug rackets will continue ruthlessly,” Shah added.

According to media reports, the Indian authorities deployed a “bottom-to-top approach" to track the large consignment following a small quantity of drugs seized in Delhi earlier. According to NCB Deputy Director General (Northern region) Neeraj Kumar Gupta, the agency took into consideration the “leads generated" from two earlier recoveries of the same drugs made from Delhi in March and August.

“The persons involved in the latest case of seizure of cocaine are mainly Hawala operators and they did not know each other,” the NCB officer said.

(With inputs from agencies)