MUMBAI:  It’s no secret anymore that Mumbai’s drug cartel is being peddled by the D-Company and that most of the Bollywood stars and strugglers are its high-paying clients.

“The D-company helmed by underworld Don Dawood Ibrahim suspected to be based in Pakistan runs this lucrative business. The D-Company buys raw drugs — opium, poppy and coca — from Afghanistan and Cambodia. After processing them into heroin, brown sugar, charas and cocaine, these drugs are smuggled into India via Punjab border and Gujarat ports, and land here in Mumbai,” said a senior officer from the Anti-Narcotics Cell of Mumbai Police.

After the drug consignment reaches Mumbai, it is handed over to the main dealer, sub-dealers and other local suppliers.

The drug suppliers mainly hide in the ghettos of Mira Road, Nalasopara and Dockyard Road of Mumbai and extended suburbs.  

“The college-going students mostly take ganja and charas. Heroin and cocaine, the refined drugs — are sold at a very high price. Only the well-heeled people can afford them. Most of the Bollywood film stars and strugglers take either heroin or cocaine,” said the officer.

A highly-placed source in the Anti-Narcotics Cell said MDMA (also knows as Ecstasy) is in high demand for its said effects on sexual excitement.

“The MDMA is also used by Bollywood struggler girls. There is a myth that this drug can keep them slim and fit,” the source explained. 

Earlier the MDMA used to be made in Mumbai and Palghar area only.

“However, following continuous high vigil and frequent raids, these makers shifted to Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. Heroin is the highest quality and costliest drug that has been supplied by Cambodia and some South American countries,” added the source. 

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Sunday arrested Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, and seven others in connection with the seizure of banned drugs onboard a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast.

Besides Aryan Khan, the arrested accused are identified as Munmun Dhamecha, Arbaaz Merchant, Ismeet Singh, Mohak Jaswal, Gomit Chopra, Nupur Sarika, and Vikrant Chhokar, an NCB official said.

Aryan Khan, Dhamecha, and Merchant were produced before a metropolitan magistrate’s court here earlier in the day which remanded them in NCB custody till October 4.

All the eight accused will be produced before the court on Monday after their medical examination, he added.

Aryan Khan has been booked under sections 27 (punishment for consumption of any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance), 8C (produce, manufacture, possess, sell or purchase of drugs) and other relevant provisions of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS).

Mark Zuckerberg’s personal wealth took at least USD 6 billion fall amid a whistleblower’s explosive claims against the site and massive outages that disrupted services on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp for several hours on Monday. A selloff sent the social-media giant’s stock plummeting around 5 per cent on Monday, adding to a drop of about 15 per cent since mid-September.

The stock slide sent Zuckerberg’s worth down to USD 120.9 billion, dropping him below Bill Gates to No. 5 on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

According to the index, he has lost about USD 19 billion of wealth since September 13, when he was worth nearly USD 140 billion.

“Sorry for the disruption today — I know how much you rely on our services to stay connected with the people you care about,” he wrote in a Facebook post.

Meanwhile, grave claims against Facebook by a ‘whistleblower’ ie. former product manager, Frances Haugen, in an interview on CBS’ ’60 Minutes’, that aired on Sunday, has also done a ton of damage to the website’s credibility.

Haugen in the interview spoke about Facebook’s alleged complicity with regard to the January 2021 US Capitol Riots.

She also explained how Facebook has “over and over again” chosen “profit over safety”.

Haugen, who will testify before US Congress this week, said she hopes that by coming forward the government will put regulations in place to govern the company’s activities.

Washington : Prime Minister Narendra Modi has described India and America as “natural partners” as he held the first in-person meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House during which they decided to further cement the Indo-US strategic partnership and discussed global issues of common interest, including threats to democracy, Afghanistan and the Indo-Pacific.

“India and America are natural partners. We have similar values, similar geopolitical interests,” Modi said in a joint media appearance with Harris on Thursday, the first-ever person of Indian origin to be elected as the vice-president of the United States.

Noting that India and the US are the largest and oldest democracies, Modi said the two countries share values and their coordination and cooperation is also gradually increasing.

Both the leaders appreciated that the bilateral relationship is on a sound footing, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla told reporters here while giving details of the meeting that lasted for an hour.

This is the first meeting between the two leaders. Harris had earlier spoken with Modi over the phone in June during the COVID-19 crisis in India.

“You are the source of inspiration for so many people across the world. I am completely confident that our bilateral relationship will touch new heights under President Biden and your leadership,” Modi told Harris.

Later in tweet, Modi said, “Glad to have met @VP@KamalaHarris. Her feat has inspired the entire world. We talked about multiple subjects that will further cement the India-USA friendship, which is based on shared values and cultural linkages.”

The two leaders were wearing masks as they both spoke in front of a battery of pool reporters from both India and the US.

Modi invited the 56-year-old Democratic leader and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff to visit India.

“Both President Biden and you assumed office at a time when our planet faced very tough challenges. In a short time you have had many achievements to your credit be it COVID-19, climate change or the Quad,” Modi said.

In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs said the two leaders exchanged views on recent global developments, including in Afghanistan and reaffirmed their commitment towards a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.

The two leaders discussed the COVID-19 situation in their countries, including ongoing efforts to contain the pandemic through expedited vaccination efforts, and ensuring supply of critical medicines, therapeutics and healthcare equipment, it said.

“As relates to the Indo-Pacific, the US stresses on maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific, Harris said, amidst China’s aggressive moves in the strategically vital region.

India, the US and several other world powers have been talking about the need to ensure a free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China’s rising military manoeuvring in the region.

China claims nearly all of the disputed South China Sea, though Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam all claim parts of it. Beijing has built artificial islands and military installations in the South China Sea.

Harris said the world is more interconnected and more interdependent than ever before. And the challenges that we face today have highlighted that fact. COVID-19, climate crisis and the importance of our shared belief in the Indo-Pacific region, she said.

Both sides acknowledged the importance of collaborative action on climate change. Prime Minister spoke about India’s push for increasing renewable energy and the recently launched National Hydrogen Mission. He also emphasized the importance of lifestyle changes to promote environmental sustainability, the statement said.

Modi noted that he had the opportunity to speak to Harris after she assumed the Vice Presidency. “One of our interactions happened when India was battling a very tough wave of COVID-19 infections. I recall your kind words of solidarity that time,” Modi said.

India was confronted with the second wave of the COVID 19 pandemic. A very difficult time for India, he said. Like a family, the sense of kinship and so warmly, you extended a helping hand, the words that you chose when you spoke to me, I will always remember that, and I’d like to thank you from the bottom of my heart, the prime minister said.

“Like a true friend, you had given a message of cooperation, and were very full of sensitivity and immediately after that we found that the US government, the US corporate sector and the Indian community, all came together to help India, he said.

Modi said that the US Government, companies based in the USA and the Indian diaspora were very helpful when India was fighting a tough wave of COVID-19 infections.

Both leaders acknowledged the vibrant people-to-people linkages as the bedrock of the mutually beneficial education linkages and the flow of knowledge, innovation and talent between our two countries.

Modi said that four million people of Indian origin are acting as a bridge of friendship between the two countries.

Harris described India as a “very important partner” to the US and welcomed New Delhi’s announcement that it will soon resume vaccine export.

India stopped the export of COVID-19 vaccines after the second wave of the pandemic hit the country in April this year.

On Monday, India said that it will resume export of srplus COVID-19 vaccines in the fourth quarter of 2021 under the ”Vaccine Maitri” programme and to meet its commitment to the COVAX global pool.

On the issue of the climate crisis, she told Modi that the US working together with India can have not only a profound impact on people of nations but around the world itself.

Harris said that it is incumbent on the two nations to protect democracies in the best interests of people of the two countries.

“As democracies around the world are under threat, it is imperative that we defend democratic principles and institutions within our respective countries and around the world. And that we maintain what we must do to strengthen democracies at home and it is incumbent on our nations to of course protect democracies in the best interests of people of our countries, she said.

Their meeting comes a day ahead of the maiden bilateral meeting between Modi and President Joe Biden and the Quad Leaders’ Summit at the White House on Friday.

They also discussed areas of future collaboration, including space cooperation, Information Technology, especially emerging and critical technologies, as well as the cooperation in healthcare sector.

Shringla said, the contribution of Indian professionals, especially in the IT domain, biotechnology, space, and other areas, which represent the knowledge economy was appreciated by both. There was a sense that India had capable professionals, in the high tech sector including research and development capacities, and the US which is known for cutting edge technologies and innovation, were obvious partners, he said.

Shringla said that the Vice President has graciously accepted the invitation of the Prime Minister to visit India.

Strong commitment to further deepen bilateral relations! tweeted MEA Spokeperson Arindam Bagchi.

Leadership-level engagement continues to be an integral element of our expanding bilateral partnership with the USA! he said