The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday arrested two Delhi-based key accused in connection with a case linked to the seizure of 2,988 kg of Heroin from Gujarat's Mundra Port on September 13, 2021.
The accused were identified as Harpreet Singh Talwar alias Kabir Talwar and Prince Sharma.
NIA said they were involved in the "smuggling of Heroin through import consignments from Afghanistan using the maritime route".
The accused were arrested on the basis of so far conducted investigations and incriminating evidence obtained during the searches by NIA at 20 locations on Wednesday in various states (Delhi-14, Gujarat-2, Punjab-1 and West Bengal-3) in the case.
"The arrested accused are a part of an international drug smuggling network involved in smuggling of large commercial quantities of Heroin originating from Afghanistan into India," said the NIA.
"Heroin was being concealed in import consignments of material, such as semi-processed Talc, Bituminous coal etc."
One such consignment of about 3,000 kg of Heroin was intercepted and seized at Mundra Port by the Directorate Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on September 13, 2021.
"The accused persons were involved in the import of narcotics through fake and shell import companies and further facilitated its transport to Delhi-based Afghan nationals involved in purification and distribution of Heroin in many states including Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh," said the counter-terror agency.
The investigation continues to unravel the entire supply chain and network of money laundering, drug distribution and other players involved in this international drug network, the NIA added further.
The narcotics drugs were found concealed in the import consignment of 'Semi-processed Talc stones' originating from Afghanistan which had arrived from Bandar Abbas Port, Iran.
The NIA on October 6 took over the Mundra Port drug haul case, in which 2,988.21 kilograms of heroin was seized at Mundra port by the Directorate of Revenue in September 2021.
The NIA has not only invoked sections of IPC and the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act but also Section 17 (punishment for raising funds for the terrorist act) and Section 18 (punishment for conspiracy to commit terror acts) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
Chennai-based Sudhakaran and Govindaraju own the company which was shipping the contraband. Govindaraju is the proprietor of Aashi Trading Company, registered in Andhra Pradesh's Vijayawada, that was importing the talc from a firm called Hasan Husain Ltd.
( With inputs from ANI )
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