New Delhi, March 6 – The NCB has busted an international drug trafficking network linking Nepal, India, and Sri Lanka, arresting five individuals and seizing 77.60 kg of Hashish Oil and 2 kg of Charas, valued at nearly Rs 10 crore, an official said on Friday.
Acting on credible intelligence regarding the movement of narcotic drugs across multiple states, officers of the NCB Hyderabad Zonal Unit intercepted a Tata Safari Storme car on March 3 near the Raikal Toll Plaza on the Bengaluru–Hyderabad Highway in Telangana.
During the search of the vehicle, 2 kg of Charas was recovered, concealed in specially fabricated cavities. Two individuals, one a resident of Delhi and the other of Uttar Pradesh, were apprehended in connection with the transportation of the contraband, according to an NCB statement.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the recovered Charas, along with another consignment of about 78 kg of Hashish Oil, was trafficked into India from Kathmandu, Nepal, through the Sonauli Indo-Nepal Border. The consignment of about 78 kg of Hashish Oil had already been delivered by the arrested individuals in Thoothukudi for onward trafficking to Sri Lanka via sea route, it said.
The NCB in Chennai took action against the trafficking of Hashish Oil from Tamil Nadu to Sri Lanka. Subsequently, the NCB team seized about 78 kg of Hashish Oil from the possession of three individuals, including a Sri Lankan refugee, bringing the total number of arrests in this network to five, the NCB said.
Vehicles used for transporting the contraband were also seized. The investigation revealed that the traffickers had planned to transport the narcotic consignment through the coastal waters off Thoothukudi and deliver it mid-sea to a Sri Lankan recipient, using a fishing boat for the maritime transfer, it said.
With the assistance of the Indian Coast Guard, the NCB intercepted and seized the fishing boat suspected to be used for the planned mid-sea transfer near the International Maritime Boundary Line, thereby thwarting the cross-border maritime trafficking attempt, the NCB said.
Further investigation has identified the involvement of a Sri Lankan national, based in Sri Lanka, as the final recipient of the seized consignment, who had financed and coordinated the shipment of the recovered contraband from Nepal to Sri Lanka, it said.