New Delhi: They were once the silent lookouts or the quiet couriers stepping into the shadows when their kingpins were hauled off in handcuffs. Today, women like Taslima Putti, Kusum, and the notorious sister trio of Paro, Usha and Kanta are no longer peripheral players in the city’s narcotics network .They are at the centre stage, and have multi-crore real estate portfolios that were allegedly built on the trade of tiny packets of hidden contraband.From the cramped alleys of Bhalswa Dairy to the bustling Majnu Ka Tila, the face of Delhi’s drug trade seems to have shifted. The shift, investigators told TOI, came down to simple economics. The old hustle of bootlegging meant moving heavy, loud crates for a pittance. “While bootlegging fetches barely Rs 5 per bottle, a small quantity of ganja can yield a profit margin of nearly Rs 200 to 300,” a senior police officer said. Drugs are also easier to hide. Small packets of ganja, heroin and smack slip easily into the folds of a dupatta, can be tucked into a blouse or under a sari pallu, making detection and searches difficult.Sources also disclosed how procedural safeguards meant to protect women are allegedly exploited by the women. A female suspect can only be searched or detained by female personnel, leaving male officers unable to act even on a strong suspicion. “After sunset and before sunrise, police require a magistrate’s permission to arrest a woman, and the application must be moved by a woman officer,” a police officer said. A house raid based on a credible tip off cannot proceed without a woman officer in the team.Many women, cops said, entered the trade after their husbands, fathers, brothers or sons were arrested under the NDPS Act. They learnt about the supply chains and client networks from male relatives before taking over. Once in control, they often work in teams of two or three — one talking to customers, another delivering the drugs, a third collecting payment.The story of Paro (28), Usha (25) and Kanta (35), who were arrested on drug trafficking charges on June 22 this year, exposed a big nexus. The siblings grew up around addicts and peddlers, working for daily wages from the age of 13 or 14. They saw others prosper in the trade and so entered it. They managed to amass nearly Rs 2 crore in assets, including 12-13 flats worth about Rs 15 lakh each.They are not alone. Another syndicate kingpin, Taslima Putti, had assets worth over Rs 2 crore from the trade, while another, Kusum, had amassed properties worth over Rs 4 crore.Kusum, who was arrested earlier this year, operated out of a fortified four-storey “mini-mansion” constructed by secretly merging four separate houses in Sultanpuri where juveniles were hired to keep an eye out for the cops. With over a dozen cases under the NDPS Act, she ran the trade as a family enterprise, laundering drug money through thousands of small-value deposits into her daughters’ bank accounts.Operating out of Bhalswa Dairy, Taslima built her illicit heroin supply network worth crores with multiple properties in JJ colonies. She also owned luxury vehicles.The money rarely sat in a bank account. It got funnelled into gold and informal real estate. “Many women buy properties worth crores in slum clusters through general power of attorney,” an officer said, a route needing just a Rs 100 stamp and two witnesses.At the ground level, local juveniles act as lookouts, alerting peddlers when strangers or police enter the area, while CCTV cameras installed at the far ends of narrow lanes give syndicates advance warning of raids. By the time officers arrive, the drugs are either flushed or moved.Lawyers are kept on speed dial, and the women are advised not to open their doors immediately, to keep CCTV DVRs hidden, and sometimes to film police on their phones, threatening to post footage online to pressure investigators.The cops said they were planning to induct more women cops in anti-narcotics teams to fight this evolving menace.