MUMBAI, May 2 -- In a major strike against a trans-national narcotics trafficking syndicate, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has seized 349 kg of high-grade cocaine, worth around Rs.1,745 crore in the illicit market, from Mumbai and nearby places, agency officials said on Friday. NCB's preliminary investigation revealed that the cocaine had been concealed inside the cavity of a machine tool that had been imported into India. NCB's operation, known internally as 'Operation White Strike' and conducted by its Delhi and Mumbai units, has busted what is allegedly a highly- organised transnational drug supply network using warehouse infrastructure and concealed transport mechanisms, the officials said. The cocaine was seized by the NCB in two batches, the officials said. Acting on specific inputs, multiple NCB teams launched coordinated actions in the Kalamboli-Bhiwandi corridor of Navi Mumbai-Thane region. During the first part of the operation, NCB officers had intercepted a transport vehicle at a spot near the KWC Warehousing Complex, Kalamboli, Navi Mumbai. The search of the vehicle led to recovery of 136 packets of cocaine, each weighing around a kilogram, officials said. The packets were found packed in cartons, in which articles like cricket pads and gloves were kept as well to conceal the narcotic substance. An individual who was with the vehicle was apprehended on the spot by NCB officials. On the accused's sustained interrogation, he divulged the existence of another concealed cocaine consignment that was stored in Bhiwandi, a major warehousing hub. The NCB team conducted a search at a warehouse located at Laxman Compound, near Rehnal Bus Stand, Bhiwandi, resulting in the recovery of an additional 213 packets, each containing 1 kg of cocaine. NCB's probe has revealed that the imported machine, in which the cocaine was concealed at the time of smuggling them into India via sea, has a cavity spacious enough to store them. Each cocaine-containing packet had nine layers of different types of polythene, including one layer of black greasy substance, covering it. "The use of Bhiwandi's warehousing ecosystem points to a structured logistics chain involving import of machinery with concealed cocaine, storage and retrieval of cocaine packets in warehouses and downstream supply of narcotics," a NCB official said. The quantum of the seizure in the NCB operation is significant because in India, anti-narcotic enforcement agencies otherwise manage to seize only 200-300 kg of cocaine in a year on an average, the officials said. The high-impact operation in effect began six months ago based on specific intelligence about the network after which its activities were put under sustained surveillance, the officials said. Commending NCB's action, in a post on X on Friday, Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah said, "This is a trailblazing example of bottom to top approach where the agency traced back a smaller consignment to net a massive network. Congratulations to Team NCB for this monumental success."...