Mumbai: NCB raids Dongri den of notorious drug trafficker Danish Merchant

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) sleuths conducted a raid in the wee hours of Thursday at a Dongri-based den of a notorious drug trafficker of South Mumbai Danish Merchant, alias Chikna. The agency has seized a commercial quantity of a codeine-based syrup and intercepted one of the associates of the Chikna Gang. The gang is presently active and runs an organised drug network in Dongri and surrounding areas.

According to Sameer Wankhede, zonal director of NCB Mumbai Zonal Unit, a raid was conducted by a team of NCB officials in a dilapidated structure situated at Tantanpura Street in Dongri in the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday. The said dilapidated structure was being used by the gang to distribute drugs, such as charas, ganja and codeine to consumers and other peddlers, officials said.

"During the raid, we intercepted one Rafique Chand Shaikh and seized 2.684 kilograms of a codeine-based cough syrup. Shaikh is a peddler working for Danish Merchant, alias Danish Chikna, a member of the Chikna Gang. Danish is a notorious drug trafficker in South Mumbai. “Chikna Gang is presently active and runs an organised drug network in Dongri and surrounding areas," said an NCB official, who is a part of the team that conducted the raid.

He added, Danish got a whiff of the NCB raid and he managed to escape before the NCB team raided his residence. "We are on the lookout for Danish. His brother Raziq is also into the drug trade and is considered to be a pioneer in introducing MD drugs in Dongri. We have booked Shaikh under sections 8(c) (produce, manufacture, possess, sell, purchase, transport, warehouse, use, consume, import inter-state, export inter-state, import into India, export from India or tranship any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance, except for medical or scientific purposes, 22 (Punishment for contravention in relation to psychotropic substances) and 27 (a) (Punishment for consumption of any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act," the official said.