New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Monday filed their first chargesheet against 16 alleged narcotics traffickers, including Afghan and Iranian nationals, in connection with the drug haul at Mundra Port on 13 September last year. Nearly 3,000 kgs of heroin had been seized by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), making the Mundra Port haul the largest consignment caught by the DRI till then. The high-quality contraband was estimated to be worth over Rs 21,000 crore in the international market.
According to sources in the NIA, the chargesheet filed in a special NIA court in Ahmedabad mentions that the key accused in the case had links to “Pakistan terror outfits”, and the money made from pushing these drugs into India were being routed back to Pakistan, to be used in “anti-India activities”.
NIA officials claimed that men from Kandahar, entered into a “criminal conspiracy” with some people in India — including a couple from Tamil Nadu — to smuggle huge quantities of narcotics to India by concealing it in consignments of semi processed talc.
NIA officials also claimed that this was not the first time the accused had pushed drugs into India. “While the consignment sent in September 2021 was intercepted, earlier consignments were received and stored in a warehouse in Delhi for further distribution in Delhi and Punjab,” a source in NIA said, referring to the chargesheet.
Monday’s chargesheet was filed against 16 accused people, who have been booked for criminal conspiracy and forgery of records, under sections of the Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, an NIA officer said.
Among the 10 people who were arrested in the case are five Afghan nationals, identified as Said Mohammad Hussaini, Fardin Amery, Sobhan Aryanfar, Alokozai Mohammad Khan and Murtaza Hakimi. The others arrested in the case are Machavaram Sudhakar, Durga Purna Govindaraju Vaishali, Rajkumar Perumal, Mohammad Khan Akhlaqi and Pradeep Kumar.
According to the NIA it was Mohammad Hussain Dad and Mohammad Hasan Dad of M/s Hasan Hussain Ltd, Kandahar, who coordinated with M. Sudhakar, D.P. Vaishali and Rajkumar Perumal of M/s Aashi Trading Company, to smuggle the narcotics .
The NIA has also chargesheeted six accused — five Afghan nationals—Mohammad Hussain Dad, Mohammad Hassan, Najibullah Khan Khalid, Esmat Ullah Honari and Abdul Hadi Alizada, and one Iranian — Javad Najafi — who are absconding.
According to the NIA the consignment seized at Gujarat’s Mundra Port was being imported by M/s Aashi Trading Company and exported by M/s Hasan Hussain Ltd. Kandahar, Afghanistan through Bandar Abbas Port of Iran. The narcotics were found concealed in a consignment of “Semi-processed Talc stones” originating from Afghanistan.
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‘Links to terror organisation in Pakistan’
According to NIA’s chargesheet, investigations have indicated that accused Mohammad Hasan Hussain Dad, Mohammad Hasan Dad and other co-conspirators had links with proscribed terror organisations based in Pakistan.
The proceeds of drugs trafficking, according to NIA, were channelled back to “foreign entities through hawala channels” at the behest of “Pak-based terror outfits for use in anti-India activities”.
“We have found significant links to establish that the money that was made through pushing these drugs into India was then sent to Pakistan through hawala channels and the money was then used for nefarious activities,” the source said. “The investigation into the aspect is on and more details will emerge soon,” claimed the source quoted above.
According to sources, the chargesheet also mentions that the smuggling of narcotics into India was carried out earlier, on several instances, by the same people.
“These included the offences registered by DRI Delhi zonal unit, wherein 16.105 Kg of Heroin was seized from a warehouse in Delhi and a case registered in Garh Shankar, Hoshiarpur, Punjab on 1 July, 2021, wherein 20.250 kg of heroin was seized. These two offences were also subsumed in the instant case as connected offences,” the source said.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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