Thane police seize ganja valued at Rs 14.35 lakh; four held

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An official said that the Thane police have seized ganja valued at 14.35 lakh and arrested four persons, reported news agency PTI.

A team of cops from the Chitalsar police station seized 42.5 kg of ganja from a car in the Subhash Nagar area of the city in the early hours of January 11, said Deputy Commissioner of Police Zone V (Wagle Estate) Prashant Kadam, reported PTI.

While two persons escaped from the spot, Thane police arrested one man and confiscated the vehicle and the drug, valued at Rs 14.35 lakh, he said. Subsequently, three more persons, two from Junnar in Pune district and one from Kalyan in Thane district, were arrested.

The four have been booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, he added.

2 Nigerians among 4 held in Thane and Palghar for drug possession; cocaine, MD seized

Four individuals, including two Nigerian nationals, were arrested in separate cases of drug possession in Thane and Palghar districts of Maharashtra, police said on Tuesday.

Banned narcotics, including cocaine and MD (mephedrone), valued at more than Rs 12.80 lakh, were seized from their possession during the operations carried out last week, they said.

In the first operation, Crime Unit V acted on a tip-off and set a trap at Wagle Estate in Thane city. The operation resulted in the arrest of three suspects - Nigerian national Onyedikachi Precious Ikechukwu, 24, and two others, Alam Abid Shaikh, 27, and Usman alias Sonu Abdul Kadir Sheikh, 37, said the police, reported PTI.

Cocaine weighing 101.16 grams and valued at Rs 10,12,000 was recovered from them, said the police, adding an FIR was registered against the trio under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

In the second operation, the Mira-Bhayandar Vasai-Virar (MBVV) police, acting on a tip-off, laid a trap at Nallasopara in Palghar city and apprehended a Nigerian national, identified as Anthony Chijiko Nyafore, 46, said the police.

His search led to the recovery of 22.02 grams of MD, a synthetic stimulant drug, valued at Rs 2,69,340, they said.

An FIR under the NDPS Act has been registered in the case.

(With inputs from PTI)