29-04-2025
Navi Mumbai drug cartel bust: Customs officer, ex-hockey player among 10 held
Navi Mumbai: A former national hockey player, a customs superintendent and a clearing agent, and two police constables are among the 10 arrested in connection with the April 14
hydro ganja
bust by
Navi Mumbai Crime Branch
's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC). The alleged kingpin of this
drug cartel
is Naveen Chichkar, son of builder Gurunath Chichkar who shot himself in the head at his Belapur office last week.
On April 14, an ANC team, acting on a tipoff about a drug deal being carried out in a terrace flat in Nerul's Sector 15, conducted a raid and seized 17.2gm of hydro ganja worth Rs 2.8 lakh, said DCP (crime) Amit Kale. The flat owner Ashish Gaware (22) and Ahmed Aulagi (23) were arrested, but their aide Akash Maurya escaped.
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During interrogation, the duo said they had procured the drugs from former hockey player Sujit Bangera and alleged peddler Sahil Lambe (27). The two Nerul residents were then arrested. Bangera and Lambe allegedly smuggled the hydro ganja from Thailand via flights. Once the contraband arrived at Mumbai airport, it would be cleared by customs clearing agent Kamal Chandwani (56) and customs superintendent Prashant Gaur (40). Chandwani and Gaur, both Kharghar residents, have been arrested. Kale said, "During probe, we 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. The two cops were arrested on Sunday."
The cash obtained by Ban-gera and Chandwani from the drug sale was routed to Thailand through Vashi-based angadias Ankit Patel and Rinkunkumar Patel who converted it into cryptocurrency, Kale said, adding that they too have been arrested.
ANC senior inspector Sandeep Nigade said that Naveen, who is operating either from Thailand or Malaysia, is also wanted by Mumbai Narcotics Control Bureau in the Rs 1,000 crore drug seizure case in March and a red-corner notice has been issued against him.
On April 25, builder Chichkar died by suicide and 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.
