New Delhi, Mar 16 (IANS): Three persons including a woman were arrested here with 44 kilograms of heroin worth Rs 180 crores in the international market, a police officer said on Friday.

"The kingpin of the syndicate is Shamuta Banu (54), a resident of Assam, while Dhanji Gupta (49) and Dheeraj Kumar (24) of Bihar are her associates in the crime," the official said.

Gupta and Kumar were arrested on Monday night when they reached near south Delhi's Indraprastha Park with 21 kilograms of heroin to supply it to some contacts.

"As per the information given by Gupta and Kumar, police team on Tuesday arrested Banu from Assam," Deputy Commissioner of Police P.S. Kushwah said.

"Interrogation revealed that Banu received crude heroin from her Manipur based contact who procures it from Myanmar," he said.

"Banu and her associates used to turn crude heroin into fine quality by using chemicals in Bihar. She than used to supply it to North India, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and other states including Delhi with the help of her contacts," Kushwah said.

There is widespread illegal cultivation of opium in the bordering areas of Manipur. Drug manufacturers prepare heroin from opium and supply it to the clients, the investigation revealed.

"The quality, however, of heroin smuggled from Myanmar is much better than the one produced in Manipur and as it is cheaper in cost, it remains in high demand globally including in India," he added.