The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Mumbai zone, on Friday arrested four persons and seized drugs worth ₹200 crore and busted a city-based international syndicate for trafficking drugs into the country and then smuggling it overseas via a courier network.

The seized drugs included 11.54kg of cocaine, 4.9kg hybrid strain hydroponic weed, 200 packets (5.5kg) of cannabis gummies. A preliminary probe has revealed that individuals based abroad were running the drug syndicate.

Last month, the NCB had seized 200 grams of cocaine consignment from an international courier agency in Mumbai which was supposed to be sent to Australia, following which an investigation was launched into finding the drug syndicate.

In a detailed investigation, the NCB Mumbai was able to track the consignment and find its bulk storage location in Navi Mumbai. "Investigation conducted so far revealed that this syndicate is being operated by a group of people based abroad and some quantities of the seized contraband were sourced from the US to Mumbai and being sent to multiple receivers in India and abroad through courier or small cargo services and human carriers," said a statement from the Union home ministry.

According to the authorities, those who were part of the syndicate were operating anonymously and using false identities as well as pseudonyms to carry out drug transactions. In a post on X, Union home minister Amit Shah said: “Bharat crushes drug cartels with zero tolerance. A major breakthrough in Mumbai in seizing very high-grade cocaine, ganja, and cannabis gummies and arresting four people….”