Kolkata Police arrested three drug traffickers and seized 104 grams of cocaine worth more than ₹10 lakh following a raid on a suspected drug den on Ahiripukur Road in the Karaya area of Kolkata on Monday, 28 July. Officers from Kadeya Police Station conducted the operation after receiving tip-offs from sources, according to an official statement.

The Arrests and What Was Recovered

The three individuals arrested — Azaharuddin Khan, Mohammad Ashfaq, and Latafat Khan — were caught red-handed at the location. According to police, the trio were key operatives responsible for distributing cocaine in small packets to rave parties across different parts of the city.

Investigators have established that the arrested persons also served as intermediaries who communicated with foreign drug suppliers via the dark web. The contraband reportedly reached Kolkata through couriers or carriers, raising serious questions about how it evaded detection at airport security scanners — a line of inquiry police say they are actively pursuing.

The Rave Party Supply Chain

According to police, cocaine has emerged as a high-demand substance at rave parties in Kolkata, with smugglers sourcing it directly from drug addicts or through agents. The drug is reportedly sold in small quantities at steep prices — a few grams of the white powder commanding significant sums, according to officials.

Interrogation of the three arrested persons is ongoing, and a search has been launched for the agents and drug addicts linked to the network.

A Pattern of Foreign Drug Smuggling in Kolkata

This is not an isolated incident. Earlier in July 2025, the Special Task Force (STF) of Kolkata Police arrested two Thai female nationals from the Bhowanipore area of south Kolkata for possessing the banned drug ecstasy. The women, both from Bangkok, had entered the city on tourist visas with the apparent intent to smuggle narcotics — underscoring what investigators describe as a growing trend of foreign nationals being used as drug mules into the city.

Multi-Agency Meeting at Lalbazar

Separately, on Monday, a monthly coordination meeting involving 20 investigative agencies — including Kolkata Police, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Customs Department, Excise Department, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), and the Health Department — was held at Lalbazar, Kolkata Police headquarters. The Police Commissioner and senior officers attended on behalf of Kolkata Police.

The meeting reviewed drug seizure statistics and arrest figures from each agency over the preceding month and facilitated the exchange of intelligence on trafficking networks and traffickers. Such monthly meetings are part of a standing inter-agency framework to combat the city's drug problem.

With interrogations ongoing and the search for linked operatives widening, the Kolkata Police's focus now turns to tracing the full supply chain — from dark web contact to city-level distribution — before the network can regroup.