The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Monday arrested a 50-year-old man from Kerala, who was allegedly trafficking hashish to the Gulf countries with bases in metro cities across the country. According to NCB, the accused, a former police officer in Bahrain, procured the drugs from Manali and took them to Kochi via Bengaluru before smuggling them to Gulf counties.
“Based on specific intelligence, the officers of the NCB, Cochin sub zone, seized 3.5 kgs of hashish oil from a courier consignment at Ernakulam on September 12. The said consignment was destined for Bahrain. In a swift follow-up action, the sender of the consignment was apprehended by officers of NCB, at Bengaluru on September 29, and his associate was also apprehended at Kasargod on October 4, by the Kochi team,” read a statement from the NCB.
According to NCB officials, the interrogation of the man arrested on September 12, revealed that the operation was masterminded by the former cop. He was on the run since and had eventually come to Bengaluru.
Based on a tipoff, the NCB team led by Amit Ghawate, zonal director, tracked the train he had boarded while returning from Manali after meeting his contacts. He was arrested and booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.
“The accused had packed the drug consignments into boxes as a ‘prasad’ and also as Ayurveda medicines. He is also responsible for managing the international contacts and coordinating the supply of the drugs,” said a senior NCB official.
According to officials, he has been running the operation for the past three years. “He served as a police officer in Bahrain for 20 years. He retired and settled down in Kerala in 2014. With the contacts he made during this time in the police he began supplying drugs,” said the officials.
The Kerala NCB sleuths came to know about the drug cartel run by the accused and managed to intercept courier consignment being sent to Bahrain from Kerala.
The NCB further added that based on another specific intelligence, officers of Cochin sub zone seized 11.6 kg of Pseudoephedrine, a controlled substance from a courier consignment at Ernakulam on September 22. The said consignment was destined for Australia.
In a similar operation, the officers of NCB, Chennai zonal unit seized around 8 kgs of Pseudoephedrine from two consignments at Air Cargo, Chennai International Airport, on September 26.
“The said parcels were booked at a courier franchisee office at Karaikal. In a swift follow-up action, the consignor of the consignment was arrested in Chennai on September 29. Further, it is pertinent to mention that the details of another consignment send by the same consignor were ascertained during the investigation and the same was shared with Australian authorities, which resulted in the seizure of 4 kgs of Pseudoephedrine from the parcel in Australia,” read an NCB statement.
