Investigation into the smuggling of drugs into India has revealed the narcotics terror is controlled from Afghanistan and Rawalpindi, top sources from agencies told CNN-News18.
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) arrested two Afghan men from Bhogal last Friday and a hawala operator on Sunday. The interrogation of a man arrested from Shaheen Bagh led to the three arrests in Delhi.
The men from Afghan were mainly responsible for producing final products. During their interrogation, they confessed the entire operation is controlled in Afghanistan, where opium is grown, said agency sources.
CNN-News18 had last week exposed the blueprint of drug smuggling sleeper cells in India and the Pakistan-Afghanistan link. Through a series of reports, CNN-News18 had revealed how Pakistan was taking advantage of its geographical location for drug business in the Golden Crescent and its porous border with Afghanistan served as major transit corridor for the drugs, according to a note from the Indian intelligence agencies.
Another exclusive report showed the Afghanistan link to the 35-kg heroin bust from Muzzafarnagar and Delhi.
“We suspect this cartel is backed by Taliban and Inter-Services Intelligence as it is first sent to Iran and then to India. These men from Afghanistan have come on medical visa. We are investigating who helped them in securing it because a medical visa needs to be certified by a panel of doctors,” said the source. “They were paid approximately Rs 4 lakh in the past two months for processing drugs.”
Rs 10 CRORE: “THE SMALL CHUNK” RECEIVED
The man arrested from Shaheen Bagh told the NCB that after processing drugs, he used to sell them to different parts of India, After dispatch, he collected the money, which took two to three months. This money was sent to Dubai via hawala channels. So far, he has collected Rs 10 crore, a small chunk of what he is still to get, he told the investigators.
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Hawala operator Shamim Ahmad, who is originally from Kairana, told the investigators that the person handling the business in Dubai is also from Kairana.
The NCB feels a much bigger nexus is possible as part of this money remains in India for sleeper cells, which use it to fuel communal tension. NCB officials say only a part of the money goes abroad to recycle purchase process and a large chunk remains here to buy weapons, create tension and spread violence.
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