Special court rejects alleged drug kingpin Jaffer Sadiq's bail plea in money laundering case

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

After hearing the bail plea, S Ezhil Velavan, the additional judge of the CBI court, pronounced the final order by rejecting the petition.

Jaffer contended that the enforcement agency didn't prove any proceeds of crime against him, which is the quintessential principle to rope him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Since there is lack of material to establish the proceeds of crime, the PMLA would not attract in the case; 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; he has to prove his innocence under PMLA.

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

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