ED conducts raids in Mumbai in drugs trafficking case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted searches in Mumbai as part of a money laundering investigation linked to an alleged drug trafficking network, officials said.

The action has been undertaken to trace the sale proceeds acquired by a “well-established” drug trafficking network involving Faisal Javed Shaikh and Alfiya Faisal Shaikh.

Eight premises in Mumbai are being covered under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said.

Faisal Shaikh was reportedly purchasing stimulant drug MD (mephedrone or ‘meow meow’) through Salim Dola, a drug kingpin wanted by the law enforcement agencies for his involvement in narcotics trafficking and funding illegal drug networks, the officials said.

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has announced a reward for information leading to Dola’s arrest, according to the officials.

In May this year, the NCB’s Mumbai unit had put Faisal Shaikh in preventive detention under the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (PIT-NDPS) Act.

He was later transferred from Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail to Chennai’s Puzhal Central Prison.