Mumbai: Major cannabis supplier to SoBo held after Bandra raid

The accused (hooded) surrounded by Bandra Crime Branch Unit IX

Unit IX of the Bandra Crime Branch has arrested a major supplier of cannabis to South Mumbai, seizing approximately 286 kilograms of the psychoactive drug, worth around Rs 71 lakh, from a 10x10-foot room in a Bandra West transit camp following a raid.

The accused, identified as Imran Kamluddin Ansari, 36, a resident of Tulsiwadi in Tardeo, has been arrested in several theft and robbery cases. However, this is the first time he has been caught in a drug-related offence.

The house in the transit camp at Bandra Reclamation, which was raided on March 18

According to the police, the accused, who transported the drugs to the city from Jharkhand, rented the small room at Bandra Reclamation, using his brother-in-law's name last month.

A Crime Branch officer stated, "We received a tip-off that Ansari was storing ganja at his residence. The strong smell of cannabis had also started spreading to neighbouring houses. Acting on this information, Unit IX raided the house on March 18 and caught the accused red-handed with the contraband."

"The entire house was filled with large gunny bags of ganja. The officers removed and seized all the material," the officer added.

Investigators also discovered that Ansari's mother had been arrested earlier for selling cannabis in Tulsiwadi.

One of Ansari's neighbours told mid-day, "For the past few days, we noticed a strong smell coming from the neighbouring house. At first, we thought he was mixing gutka or something similar, but the odour grew stronger by the day. We also saw him frequently carrying small bags into the house. After storing the bags, he would lock the premises. He managed to rent the room at the very cheap rate of Rs 5000 per month."