The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai arrested Danish Merchant alias Danish Chikna – suspected to be a close associate of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim – and “kingpin” of an alleged drug syndicate from Goa earlier this week.
Merchant and his wife were intercepted from a resort in Goa’s Anjuna Saturday late night. Two other associates of the alleged syndicate were also arrested, NCB said.
In a statement, the NCB said on the basis of actionable intelligence, an accused was arrested from Pune in possession of 502 grams Mephedrone on the intervening night of October 18 and 19. Officials said during a subsequent probe, 839 grams of Mephedrone was seized from possession of another drug associate from Merchant’s house in Mumbai.
“During investigation, the kingpin [Merchant] and his wife were identified to be operating the drug syndicate and were on the run since then and travelled across multiple states to dodge the movement trail. After intensive follow up action, they were located at a holiday resort in Goa…this seizure highlights the committed effort of NCB in safeguarding public health and ensuring strict enforcement against the organised drug syndicates,” the NCB said in a statement.
Merchant, son of gangster Yusuf Chikna, used to manage the narcotics operations of gangster Dawood Ibrahim in Dongri area in Mumbai. He has seven criminal cases against him in Mumbai and was declared ‘tadipar’ by police and ordered to stay out of Mumbai municipal limits, officials said. The NCB said Merchant is a habitual drug offender and three Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) cases have been registered against him earlier by the NCB and Rajasthan Police.
Sources said he was also briefly questioned by Goa Police regarding alleged involvement in smuggling narcotics in the coastal case, after he was intercepted on October 25.
