New Delhi: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has uncovered a cocaine trafficking operation that sourced the drug from foreign nationals in Bengaluru and supplied it in Kerala, the agency said on Tuesday.
The NCB arrested seven people—including a DJ, an IT sector employee, three UAE deportees and two foreign nationals—in connection with the case last week. The two foreign nationals were arrested in Bengaluru while the others were arrested at Kozhikode’s Feroke Railway Station.
The NCB’s Cochin Zonal Unit said in a statement that its team had also seized 33.1 grams of cocaine valued at Rs 16,55,000.
The statement said that the NCB had been closely monitoring the activities of some individuals who had been deported from the UAE in connection with drug-related offences. The monitoring was based on credible information about their links with a drug trafficking network operating between Bengaluru and Kerala.
The Cochin Zonal Unit intercepted Gurpreet Singh of Kapurthala in Punjab as well as Hamdan Ahammed and Aflah P, both from Kozhikode, on 10 September with 8.12 grams of cocaine. Ahammed and Aflah had allegedly been deported from the UAE after being arrested in connection with drug-related offences.
The NCB’s preliminary questioning revealed that the cocaine had been procured from Bengaluru.
The interrogation further revealed the involvement of the DJ, Sidharth Damor, who was intercepted while travelling from Thiruvananthapuram to Kozhikode on 10 September.
The NCB said Damor was an “upcoming DJ associated with the party scene in Kerala and also owns a resort in Ooty, Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu”. He had also allegedly been deported from the UAE.
His examination led the NCB to Arun Rajkumar, a Tamil Nadu native based in Bengaluru and employed in the IT sector. The agency said he was a key facilitator in the network who allegedly sourced cocaine from foreign nationals and supplied it to other peddlers and consumers.
Based on the interrogation of Sidharth Damor and Arun Rajkumar, the NCB identified two foreign nationals allegedly involved in the cocaine trafficking network.
The NCB said Chizoba Helen Anthony alias Sonia, a Nigerian national who had entered India on a medical attendant visa and allegedly overstayed for 10 years, was arrested in Bengaluru with 16 grams of cocaine on 12 September.
Mufukare Vittalis Tadiswanashe, a Zimbabwean national who had entered India on a student visa and had allegedly overstayed his visa for two years, was arrested a day later with 8.98 grams of cocaine, according to the agency.
“It was further ascertained during interrogation that Sidharth Damor, Hamdan Ahammed and Aflah P had earlier been convicted and incarcerated in the UAE in connection with drug-related offences before being deported to India. During their period of incarceration, Aflah, Gurpreet and Sidharth had come into close contact and subsequently attempted to establish a stronger drug trafficking network,” the NCB said.
The agency said it was pursuing further leads to disrupt the network’s remaining linkages and destroy the trafficking chain.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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