NCB files charge sheet against Jaffer Sadiq, others in drug trafficking case

NEW DELHI:  The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has filed a charge sheet against expelled DMK leader Jaffer Sadiq and four others in connection with an international drug trafficking racket to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore, official sources said Monday.

The federal anti-narcotics agency filed the prosecution complaint under various sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act before a designated court here last week.

Sadiq, whose full name is Jaffar Sadiq Abdul Rehman, and his four alleged associates have been named as accused in the NCB charge sheet, the sources said.

The 36-year-old Tamil film producer was arrested by the NCB last month for his alleged involvement in the smuggling of about 3,500 kg of pseudoephedrine with a street value of more than Rs 2,000 crore.

His arrest came after the agency arrested three people in February, all hailing from Tamil Nadu, and seized 50 kg of narcotics-making chemical pseudoephedrine during a raid at a godown of Sadiq’s company Aventa in Delhi’s Basai Darapur area.

The NCB had claimed that the three arrested people and Sadiq informed them that a total of 45 pseudoephedrine consignments were sent by them over the last three years, containing about 3,500 kgs of pseudoephedrine valued at over Rs 2,000 crore in the international market.

The accused purportedly ran an international drug trafficking syndicate through smuggling pseudoephedrine camouflaged as health-mix powder and desiccated coconut to Australia and New Zealand.

The NCB has said that Sadiq’s links with Tamil and Hindi film financers, some “high-profile” people and some instances of “political funding” were under its scanner.

Sadiq was expelled by the ruling DMK in February after his name and purported links to the drugs network were mentioned by the NCB.

Tamil Nadu Law Minister and DMK leader S Regupathy had asserted last month that his party had no links with Sadiq.

Sadiq, according to the NCB, allegedly invested his drug trade money into his “front or cover businesses” of movie production, real estate and hospitality among others.

A Tamil film named ‘Mangai’ was “entirely funded” by the accused from the drug money. He also constructed a hotel in Chennai, a senior NCB officer had told reporters during a press conference in Delhi last month.

According to the NCB, Sadiq allegedly used to get Rs 1 lakh per kg “cut” (commission) from the smuggling of narcotics.

The ED too has registered a money laundering case against Sadiq and it conducted raids at his premises and those linked to him in Tamil Nadu last week