NCB arrests former DMK functionary in Rs 2,000 crore international drug trafficking case

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 9

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Saturday arrested former DMK politician and film producer Jaffer Sadiq for allegedly smuggling drugs worth more than Rs 2,000 crore out of the country.

3,500 kg pseudoephedrine smuggled over 3 years

• Kingpin of an international drug trafficking network, Jaffer Sadiq had been on the run since February 15
• The NCB had busted his network in New Delhi the same day by seizing 50 kg of pseudoephedrine from the godown of a firm, which allegedly belonged to him
• The accused allegedly spearheaded a network spread over India, New Zealand, Australia and Malaysia
• Officials say in the last three years, Sadiq’s drug syndicate had sent around 3,500 kg pseudoephedrine in 45 parcels to various countries

Sadiq, who is the kingpin of an international drug trafficking network, was arrested from Jaipur by NCB’s operations branch. He had been on the run since February 15, when the NCB had busted his network in the national capital by seizing 50 kg of pseudoephedrine from the godown of a firm named Aventa, and arrested his three accomplices.

Investigators allege that the firm belongs to the accused, who kept changing companies to escape identification. Addressing a press conference after Sadiq’s arrest, Deputy Director General of the NCB Gyaneshwar Singh told mediapersons that the accused spearheaded a network spread over India, New Zealand, Australia and Malaysia. The accused allegedly earned a huge amount of money through drug trafficking and invested it in various industries like film production, real estate and hospitality. He even produced a Tamil film titled “Mangai”, which was allegedly funded entirely through drug money, Singh said.

Sadiq is said to have connections with financiers based in the Mumbai film industry, he went on to add. “In the last three years, Sadiq’s drug syndicate had sent around 3,500 kg pseudoephedrine in 45 parcels to various countries,” the official said.

Singh told mediapersons that pseudoephedrine was sent abroad concealed in coconuts and dry fruits. It is used in the production of methamphetamine, or crystal meth, and is a controlled substance in India.

After the February 15 raid at his godown, Sadiq had escaped and travelled to Thiruvananthapuram, Pune, Ahmedabad and Jaipur, from where he was arrested on Saturday.

His arrest was also a result of excellent inter-agency cooperation between the NCB and its counterparts in other nations. The NCB is also cooperating with New Zealand and

Australian authorities to bust the entire transnational network, Singh said.

While Sadiq is being interrogated by the NCB, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is also expected to join the investigation, sources said.

They further said Sadiq was earlier with the DMK and had even donated Rs 2 lakh to the party fund and Rs 5 lakh towards cyclone relief work in the aftermath of the damage caused by Cyclone Michaung, which had hit Chennai in December 2023.

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