Drug cartel kingpin deported from Malaysia in custody of Navi Mumbai police, one aide held from Nerul

NAVI MUMBAI: The Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) unit of the Navi Mumbai crime branch took custody of the drug cartel kingpin, Navi Chichkar, who was arrested in May by the Mumbai Narcotics Control Bureau in the Rs 1,000 crore drug seizure case. ANC team also took custody of Chickar's aide identified as Prabhat Pandey (30). Chichkar was deported from Malaysia after a red-corner notice was issued against him. The custody of Chichkar' and Pandey was taken by the Navi Mumbai ANC in connection with the seizure of 17.2 grams of hydro ganja worth Rs 2.80 lakh on April 14. This followed a raid conducted on a tip-off about a drug deal being carried out in a terrace flat in Sector-15, Nerul. The flat owner, Ashish Gaware (22), and Ahmed Aulagi (23) were arrested, but their associate, Akash Maurya, escaped and is still untraceable.

Sandeep Nigade, senior inspector of the ANC, said, "The alleged drug kingpin, Navin Chichkar and his aide Pandey were produced before the Belapur JMFC court and remanded in police custody untill June 16. Till date, 18 accused have been arrested in the drugs cartel operated by kingpin Navin Chichkar and 14 more accused are wanted."

After a fortnight of the drug seizure, the Navi Mumbai crime branch team arrested a former national hockey player, a customs superintendent, a clearing agent, two police constables, and two angadias in connection with the April 14 hydro ganja bust by the Navi Mumbai Crime Branch’s Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC). The alleged kingpin of this drug cartel was Naveen Chichkar, the elder son of builder Gurunath Chichkar, who shot himself in the head at his Belapur office on April 25. Chichkar's police custody was obtained for further interrogation, informed a crime branch officer. Builder Gurunath Chichkar left behind a note in which he alleged being ‘harassed’ by cops who repeatedly summoned him for inquiry into the drug cases filed against his sons, Naveen and Dhiraj.

After the April 14 drug bust in Nerul, during interrogation, the arrested duo, Gaware and Aulagi, revealed the names of former hockey player Sujit Bangera and Sahil Lambe (27), both Nerul residents, who allegedly smuggled the hydro ganja from Thailand to Mumbai via flights. At Mumbai airport, the contraband was cleared by customs clearing agent Kamal Chandwani (56) and customs superintendent Prashant Gaur (40), both Kharghar residents, who were also arrested.

During the investigation, the police found that Kharghar police constable Sandeep Bhalerao (40) was communicating with Chandwani for the past six months, and ANC unit constable Sanjay Phulkar (36) was in touch with Bhalerao since the cartel bust. Hence, the two cops were also arrested.

Further investigation showed that the cash obtained by Bangera and Chandwani from the sale of hydro ganja was routed to Thailand through two Vashi-based angadias, Ankit Patel and Rinkunkumar Patel, who converted it into cryptocurrency, and hence they too were arrested.

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