India News | Guj: 9 Accused, Including 4 Afghan Nationals, Remanded in NIA Custody in Mundra Drug Haul Case

Ahmedabad, Mar 22 (PTI) A special court here on Tuesday remanded nine accused, including four Afghan nationals, in National Investigation Agency (NIA) custody till March 29 in connection with the Mundra port drug haul case.

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The case relates to the seizure of 2,988.21 kilograms of heroin at Mundra Port in Gujarat by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Gandhidham, on September 13 last year. The case was transferred to the NIA.

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These accused were produced in the court of special judge Shubhada Baxi here on a production warrant from a jail in Punjab where they were lodged.

The NIA had last week filed a charge sheet against 16 people, including 11 Afghan nationals and an Iranian citizen, six of whom have been shown as wanted. They have been charged under sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the official said.

They were arrested by Punjab police in connection with the contraband that was shipped to Mundra Port in June last year and supplied to Delhi, and from there to Punjab after purification. Same set of accused were behind the June consignment, the NIA said.

The nine accused persons were arrested by Punjab police in connection with the June consignment, and this case was also transferred to the NIA, owing to its link to the Mundra drug haul case.

The NIA sought their remand to unearth the conspiracy hatched by them, their individual role in the smuggling, purification and distribution of drugs.

The NIA told court the four Afghan nationals who were arrested by Punjab police were roped in for purification of the heroin by wanted accused Mohammad Hussain Shah, and the probe agency needed to recover proceeds of the purification by unearthing a hawala transaction.

The consignment of drugs concealed in semi-processed talc stones seized at 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.

As per the probe agency, the smuggling of narcotics into India was carried out earlier as well by the same set of accused. These included 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 Hoshiarpur, Punjab, wherein 20.250 kg of heroin was seized.

These two offences were subsumed in this case as connected ones, according to the official.

The consignment sent in September 2021 was intercepted whereas earlier consignments were received and stored in a warehouse in Delhi for further distribution in Delhi and Punjab, the official said.

The proceeds of drugs trafficking were channelled back to foreign entities through hawala channels at the behest of Pakistan-based terror outfits for use in anti-India activities.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)