Mumbai, Jan 2 (IANS) In line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a Drug-Free India (Nasha Mukt Bharat), the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai Zonal Unit has delivered significant enforcement outcomes in 2025 to dismantle narcotics networks from top to bottom, an official statement said on Friday.
During the year, the NCB Mumbai seized around 5,560 kg of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, including 11.760 kg of cocaine, 11.835 kg of charas, 223 kg of ganja, 49.664 kg of mephedrone, 1,800 kg of illicitly diverted codeine-based cough syrup, 12 kg of diverted pharmaceutical tablets, 3,398.5 kg of acetic anhydride, 50 LSD blots (0.54 grams) and other prohibited substances.
A total of 51 people were arrested in connection with these cases, the statement added.
Holistic investigations led to the freezing of movable and immovable properties worth approximately Rs 18 crore, acquired through proceeds of drug trafficking.
In addition, preventive detention under the PITNDPS Act, 1988, was successfully invoked against a habitual offender, who was shifted from Mumbai jail to Chennai.
Following the “top-to-bottom and bottom-to-top” approach advocated by the Prime Minister, the Mumbai Zonal Unit registered 24 cases in 2025, leading to the arrest of suppliers, distributors, receivers, hawala operators, kingpins and key facilitators. Several international, inter-state and intra-state drug trafficking networks were effectively dismantled, the NCB said.
Major operations included action against organised crime syndicates operating from Dongri, involved in trafficking synthetic drug mephedrone and having a long criminal history. In a joint operation with Maharashtra and Rajasthan Police, NCB shared crucial intelligence that resulted in the busting of a clandestine laboratory in MIDC, Raigad, with the seizure of 47.687 kg of ketamine.
In another major breakthrough, an international cocaine trafficking network operating between the US and India was dismantled through a bottom-to-top investigation. The kingpin was subsequently deported from Malaysia.
As part of preventive action, three persons were intercepted in Pune with 420 kg of chloral hydrate, a chemical primarily used in the manufacture of spurious liquor. Since chloral hydrate does not fall under the NDPS Act, the seized material was handed over to the Maharashtra State Excise Department for further action.
NCB Mumbai also dealt a significant blow to synthetic drug manufacturing networks by dismantling an organised syndicate involved in the illegal supply of chemical intermediates used for ketamine production. Two key operatives were arrested and 46.8 kg of synthesis intermediates were seized.
In a major inter-state operation against illicitly diverted pharmaceutical drugs, alprazolam tablets were seized from an associate of a Mumbai-based kingpin. Further investigation led to the arrest of the woman kingpin and several associates, including distributors based in Varanasi.
Another illicit pharma drug syndicate, operated by a foreign-origin individual, was busted on December 31, 2025, with seizures of codeine-based cough syrup bottles and nitrazepam tablets from Irani Pada, Ambiwali and Kalyan. One person has been arrested, and the investigation is ongoing. The area is known for the presence of individuals with criminal antecedents, including NDPS cases.
Beyond enforcement, NCB Mumbai intensified awareness and capacity-building initiatives, conducting programmes in schools and colleges, including pilot initiatives under the NCB-CBSE MoU. Training sessions were also organised for law enforcement agencies, government departments and private stakeholders. During the year, 375 officers were trained, and awareness programmes were conducted at 35 locations.
--IANS
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