Mahim man arrested for mailing drugs

Mumbai: Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officials arrested a Mahim resident on Saturday after they learnt that he had sent at least 2,000 tablets of banned substance Zolpidem via air cargo.

The said contraband was seized from Kolkata after it was sent via air cargo from Mumbai. Officials suspect that the arrested accused is part of a bigger racket.

The arrested accused was identified as Siddique Ali (41), a Mahim resident who was apprehended following a tip-off. The NCB Mumbai, informed their counterparts at Kolkata who seized four boxes from the Kolkata airport that reached there as courier.

“The accused had sent the courier of 2,000 Zolpidem tablets, a prescription drug used for treating insomnia. The seized substance is a banned product as per the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act,” said an NCB officer.

The officials learnt that the cargo was sent by Ali from Mumbai, soon after which a team of NCB Mumbai, arrested Ali from his residence located at Jasmine Mill Road in Mahim.

As Zolpidem cannot be procured without proper permission in many countries, they might have been being smuggled outside the country. The investigators are also questioning Ali to find to which country were the tablets headed.

Officials said this was not the first time that Ali had sent the banned substance and are questioning him on the past couriers and ascertaining his antecedents.