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The Delhi Police Special Cell (SWR) on Tuesday claimed to have arrested a kingpin of an inter-state drug syndicate from Uttar Pradesh. Around 6,48,942 capsules/tablets of Tramadol and 44834 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup, with an estimated total value of Rs 8 crore, were also recovered from him. Incriminating documents and three mobile phones were also recovered. According to officials, the arrested accused has been identified as Yusuf Azam (43), a resident of Mahmood Nagar Chowk in Uttar Pradesh''s Lucknow.
"He was arrested from a hideout in UP''s Lucknow on April 8, and a case under sections 22/29 of the NDPS Act has been registered against him," officials said. "In the month of October 2023, the team of Special Cell (SWR) arrested three members of the syndicate, namely Md Faizan Beg, a resident of Kardampuri, Delhi; Md Zubair, a resident of Kisanganj, Uttar Pradesh; and Rekha, a resident of Delhi. Accordingly, a case was registered and substantive quantities of psychotropic substances were recovered. During the course of the investigation, other members of the gang were also arrested and recoveries from them were also affected," Delhi Police DCP (Special Cell) Manoj C said. He said that the main kingpin of the nexus, Yusuf, has been absconding since then. The arrested accused, Faizan and Zubair, had disclosed that they used to procure the psychotropic medicines from accused Rahul and Tushar. "Both of them were also arrested and from their interrogations, mobile phones and bank account statements, it was found that the mastermind of the group is Yusuf Azam," the DCP said. He further said that multiple raids were conducted at the various hideouts of the alleged Yusuf Azam. "He was deliberately evading his arrest and constantly changing his hideouts. The team of Special-Cell (SWR) launched manual and technical efforts to apprehend the absconding accused Yusuf Azam. The strenuous efforts to apprehend him revealed that he was hiding in the area of Transport Nagar, Lucknow," he added. Information was further developed and his hideout was pinpointed. Accordingly, on April 8, a raid was conducted and he was arrested from his above-mentioned hideout. He was accordingly arrested in the case and taken on a 5-day police custody remand. This is the seventh arrest in the present case. Officials said that during sustained interrogation, accused Yusuf disclosed that he has been engaged in the illicit trade for 15 years. "He is running a pharmaceutical firm by the name of AK Pharma. Besides this, he had also taken the licences of other firms on rent, so that he could procure the psychotropic medicines in bulk quantity, sell them without any invoices and earn huge profits by selling them in the grey market. He has also been previously arrested by NCB under the NDPS Case in 2013 for the procurement and supply of the contraband ''Codeine'' vide NCB case u/s 8/21/27A NCB Mahanagar, Lucknow," they added. Further investigation of the case was ongoing. (ANI)
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