On Saturday, 29th April 2023, the Narcotics Control Bureau informed that it has busted an international drug cartel in Goa. The agency arrested an Indian national along with an Olympic medal-winning woman Russian swimmer and a former policeman. A large quantity of drugs has been recovered from them.
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has busted an international drug cartel in Goa and arrested two Russians. One of them is a 1980 Olympic silver medallist woman swimmer and the other is a former policeman. Along with this, an Indian has also been caught with drugs. The operation was carried out by the Goa unit of the NCB in the last two weeks, an NCB official said on Saturday.
Based on a tip-off that a Russian drug cartel was actively operating in Arambol and its adjoining areas in Goa, an operation was launched. According to intelligence inputs, a Russian woman named S Verganova was found involved in the supply of drugs. During the investigation, NCB also got information that a local person named Akash is also involved.
On April 14, Varganova was intercepted at Arambol, leading to the recovery of 2.5g of charas, 2g of methamphetamine and 0.3g of MDMA. During the investigation, the NCB said, it was learnt that a local named Akash was working on the direction of a Russian leader of the cartel.
On April 28, Akash was arrested at Arambol with 9 LSD blots, 30g of hashish, 1 MDMA tablet and Rs 28,000. During further investigation, it was revealed that Akash was part of a larger network and was acting on the instructions of a Russian person, who operated as the kingpin of the cartel. Surveillance was mounted around the Manderem area on the same day and a Russian national named Andre was arrested with 20 LSD blots.
According to NCB, during interrogation on the spot, Akash revealed that he was growing hydroponic weed at his local residence. Pots of hydroponic weed plants were recovered from his house. During the entire operation, 88 LSD blots, 8.8 grams of cocaine, 242.5 grams of charas, 1.440 kg of hydroponic weed, 16.49 grams of hash oil, 410 grams of hash cakes and various other narcotics were seized. Along with this, the NCB also recovered foreign currencies, fake documents, IDs and materials.
The arrested Russian woman S Verganova is a 1980 Olympic silver medallist in swimming, while Andre is a former Russian policeman. The latter has been operating a drug cartel in Goa for a long time. He had visited several cities to spread his network and was managing a well-spread network of street peddlers. Along with the Russian nationals, Indian citizen Akash has also been arrested and further investigation is underway.