Movie producer has been identified as the “mastermind” behind international drug racket busted by Delhi Police on Sunday.

The accused produced worked in Tamil film industry and is currently said to be on the run.

Delhi Police arrested three people—all hailing from Tamil Nadu, as it seized large amount of chemical— 50 kilograms of pseudoephedrine, used to make narcotics in the national capital. The racket was busted in a joint operation by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and the Delhi Police's Special Cell.

The racket is said to be spanned across India, New Zealand, Australia and Malaysia.

Case:

Delhi Police has reportedly said that the illicit trade was carried out via air and sea cargo hidden in food products like health mix powder and dessicated coconut.

The authorities in Delhi are in touch with their counterparts in New Zealand and Australia after information was received from the New Zealand Customs and Australian police that large quantities of pseudoephedrine were being sent to the two countries.

Acting on information from the US Drug Enforcement Administration, a joint operation between the Delhi Police Special Cell and the NCB was launched after it was traced that the shipments originated from Delhi.

After four months of meticulous surveillance, the authorities identified operatives attempting to dispatch another consignment to Australia and tracked them to a godown in West Delhi's Basai Darapur. There, members of the gang were apprehended while attempting to conceal the pseudoephedrine consignment in a multigrain food mix.

Upon interrogation, it was revealed that the gang, hailing from Tamil Nadu, had dispatched 45 consignments totaling 3,500 kilograms of pseudoephedrine over the past three years, valued at over Rs 2,000 crore in the international market.

What is pseudoephedrine?

Pseudoephedrine is used to make methamphetamine, which is a highly addictive synthetic drug. It comes under controlled substances in India while there is strict regulation on its production, possession, trade, export and use.

The illegal possession of pseudoephedrine is punishable by upto 10 years of imprisonment under the NDPS Act, 1985.