Lankan links in Indian drug syndicate

Tuesday, 31 December 2013 00:37 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Sri Lankan links in a major international drug syndicate has been revealed following the arrest of four suspects in India, The Hindu newspaper reported. Four alleged members of an international drug syndicate spread across five Asian countries have been arrested by the Delhi Police Special Cell. The police claimed to have seized around 47 kilograms of fine quality heroin and 2 kilograms of crack heroin and cocaine worth approximately 150 crore in the international market. The arrested men have been identified as A. Venugopal Reddy (29), Ragmeet Singh (25), Shurbir Singh (28) and Autar Singh (48). “The accused belong to the racket managed by one Ali from Kuwait and an Afghan Samaiullah. They are the main dealers and others in the chain spread across Kuwait, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka, serve as middlemen-cum-distributors for the various deals,” said a senior police officer. The arrest of Reddy, who managed the activities of the gang in South India, was the first major breakthrough the police received in the case. “Reddy was caught at Shankar Road in Delhi. The police seized 3 kilograms of a narcotic substance concealed beneath clothes in his backpack. He later revealed he had received two consignments of narcotics from a Sikh man known to him as ‘Mr. Singh’ and a man from Tamil Nadu,” said the officer. According to the police, Reddy told them about two Afghani Sikhs, who were allegedly running the drug trade and were living in Mahavir Nagar, Delhi. The next day, a Punjab police team sought assistance from the Special Cell in apprehending Shurbir, who was wanted in a Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act case registered in Punjab. Because of the similarities in the suspects wanted by both the Special Cell and the Punjab Police, a joint team was created. The police learnt that Shurbir and Ragmeet, both Afghani Sikhs, were allegedly present in Majnu ka Tilla, where they were supposed to meet a member of the drug syndicate for delivering a consignment of heroin. The police caught them at Majnu ka Tilla and reportedly seized 6 kilograms of heroin from them. Shurbir and Raghmeet purportedly told the police that Autar, who is Shurbir’s uncle is the senior-most member of their local syndicate. “According to their revelations, Autar was dealing with the bulk consignments of narcotics being smuggled into India from Afghanistan and Pakistan,” said the officer. The police arrested Autar from G.T. Karnal Road on Saturday and seized another 34 kilograms of fine quality heroin and 2 kilograms of cocaine kept in the vehicle he was travelling. “The arrested men told us that those living in the regions surrounding North-Western Punjab usually fall prey to these dealers who lure them with lucrative money to become drug carriers. The Punjab-Pakistan border is being extensively used by the dealers to enter India and further with the help of South Indian middlemen, they carry out exchanges with Sri Lanka and other places,” he said.