Apple Trader Runs Pablo Escobar-esque Drug Op In Shimla, Evades Cops For Years

A police official said Shahi Mahatma aka Shashi Negi made sure the drugs being delivered changed hands four times before getting to their destination.

The orders for the drug were generated through WhatsApp, supplies were initiated and delivery made; but the delivery person and the final receiver never saw each other. In fact, people in the demand and supply chains operated like unrelated units.

Shahi Mahatma aka Shashi Negi, an apple trader in the upper Shimla region, ran an interstate 'chitta' (adulterated heroin) racket for five to six years, avoiding enforcement agencies by ensuring the dots were always so wide apart that they could not be connected to reach him. Negi remained the only common link between the demand and supply chain in his 'chitta'.

But he ran out of luck on September 20, a day after the police made this year's biggest haul of drugs in Shimla - 465 grams of 'chitta' from Kharapathar.