Mumbai: The Anti-Narcotic Cell (ANC) of the Mumbai Crime Branch has arrested a 53-year-old woman and seized around 7.2 kg of heroin worth Rs 21.60 crore. The police said the woman had sourced the drugs from two dealers based in Rajasthan and had planned to supply it to dealers and peddlers across Mumbai and its suburbs.

The Ghatkopar unit of ANC had received information about heroin being smuggled via the railways and private buses to Mumbai from Pratapgarh and Chittorgarh in Rajasthan. The information was shared with Datta Nalawade, deputy commissioner of police, ANC.

The Ghatkopar ANC team then began investigations to bust the racket. Senior police inspector of Ghatkopar unit, Lata Sutar received information about a woman operating from the Sion Koliwada area and her smuggling network. The team further kept surveillance in the vicinity and with the help of technical details they arrested the woman on October 19 from Sion Koliwada. The arrested woman has been identified as Amina Hamza Shaikh alias Lali, 53, a resident of Lallubhai Compound, Mankhurd.

The police said that Shaikh has a past criminal record and had been arrested for smuggling heroin earlier. Sutar added that she was arrested in August 2015 by the Ghatkopar Unit of ANC for possession of 50 grams of heroin. In January 2018, she was again arrested by the Worli Unit of ANC with 25 grams of heroin. A case was registered against her under the NDPS Act.

Since January 2021, the Mumbai crime branch ANC has registered eight cases and arrested around nine people. Among the nine, three are Rajasthan based dealers. During the period a total of 16 kg of heroin was seized that is worth Rs 44 crore in the international market.