Money Laundering: CBI special court denies bail to drug trafficker Jaffer Sadiq, brother

CHENNAI: The CBI special court in the city dismissed the bail plea of alleged drug kingpin Jaffer Sadiq and his brother in a money laundering case connected to a drug haul.

Jaffer contended that the enforcement agency couldn’t prove any proceeds of the crime against him, which is the quintessential principle to pin him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Since, there is a lack of material to establish the proceeds of crime, the PMLA is not applicable in the case and hence, he is not entitled to prove his innocence, he submitted.

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) countered the contention that Jaffer generated huge money from the drug network, which was later routed to his bank accounts, thus establishing the proceeds of crime connecting to the scheduled offence. Hence, the ball is now in the court of the accused to prove his innocence under the PMLA.

After hearing both sides, S Ezhil Velavan, the additional judge of the CBI court, rejected the bail petition.

On March 9, the Delhi unit of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) arrested Jaffer, who had held the post of deputy organiser of DMK NRI wing for Chennai West, for his key role in the alleged trafficking of pseudoephedrine, a narcotic drug to international drug markets, including Australia and New Zealand.

Meanwhile, the ED registered an enforcement case information report (ECIR) against him, alleging money-laundering offences connected to the drug trafficking case, and also brought Mohammed Saleem under the investigation.