Police sources say heroin seized on Saturday and other such cases show it's sourced from Belgaum and sent to different parts of the state

The Anti Narcotics Cell (ANC) arrested a drug peddler, Raju Nathuram Patro (26), seizing 830 grams of heroin worth more than Rs 10 lakh, in the wee hours of Saturday.

In a related development Kolhapur police, on Friday, seized a contraband weighing 490 grams of heroin and arrested seven persons including two involved in drug peddling. They have confirmed that the suspects had plans to sell heroin across the state.

Speaking about the arrest of Patro, Police Inspector Satish Devare, ANC, said that preliminary investigation revealed that the former had sourced the drug from Ambernath near Mumbai. Investigative officers handling the case said that the heroin seized in Kolhapur was sourced in Belgaum.

Devare pointed out that the drug peddler Patro was arrested from Alankar Talkies after Laxman Thorat and Mohammed Shaikh got information about his arrival to sell the drug in larger quantity. He said, "The heroin was packed in plastic carry bag to escape police suspicion."

Common source
So far preliminary interrogation of eight suspects involved in two different cases have not revealed a common source from where the heroin was sourced. But insiders believe that the link between the two cannot be ruled out. More importantly high profile student population in both cities could have been the reason why heroin was transported here on New Year's Eve.

According to the sources, the drug peddlers arrested in Pune and Kolhapur have revealed that they sourced heroin from two different locations. But it is believed that the original source in both the cases is Belgaum. In September last year, the Sangli police had seized heroin, which was traced to Eksambha village in Belgaum.

The drug trail
Experts believe that heroin is transported to India via Nepal from Afghanistan. It subsequently comes to Belgaun in large quantities. The contraband is then transported by rail or road link to Goa and to Mumbai finally reaching Pune.