Pramesh S Jain & Yogesh K Porwar
Officials of Narcotics Control Bureau busted another international drug racket and arrested a 50 year old man from Kerala,who was an ex-cop with the Bahrain for two decades and trafficking hashish oil to the Gulf countries with bases in metro cities across the country.
Preliminary probe revealed that he procured the drugs from Manali and took it to Kochi via Bengaluru before smuggling to the Gulf by air cargo.
According to the officials,the accused kingpin of the racket,was track down and nabbed from a train heading Bengaluru when he was returning from Manali.
The suspect had been running a drug syndicate that smuggled contraband mainly to Bahrain for a few years now operating with multiple mobile sim cards.
He knew the route and the rules very well as he had served as a police officer in the Bahrain police for nearly 20 years and had returned to Kerala few years ago to settle down.
With immense knowledge on the law enforcement in the Gulf nation,he clandestinely began the drug trade,and use to export drugs in the pretext of Prasadam in the name of various temple and God name and in the name of Ayurvedic medicine he used to sell drugs said an investigating officer.
With NCB Kochi team getting wind on the ex-cop’s activities,the sleuths on September 12, 2021,intercepted a courier consignment meant to be shipped to Bahrain and unearthed 3.5 kg of hashish oil that was declared as ayurvedic medicines.
Following which a hunt was on for the kingpin who managed to give the slip to investigators.It was established he procured the contraband from a dealer in Himachal Pradesh and brought it by train to Bengaluru and later carried it to Kochi before smuggling it to Bahrain.
With specific information that he was in Bengaluru, the NCB team led by Amit Ghawate, zonal director, NCB,tracked him to a train in the city as he was returning from Manali after meeting his contacts.
The former policeman was arrested and booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
His confession to investigators led the Kochi NCB team to nab his accomplice on Monday in Kochi,sources added.Further probe is underway into the drug smugglers Bengaluru links.
Finally,NCB acknowledges the dedicated efforts of Amit Ghawate,(Zonal Director,Bangalore),M Suresh Kumar- Superintendent and other officers associated to this case at NCB,Chennai Zonal Unit.
