The NIA on Monday filed a charge sheet against 16 people, including 11 Afghan nationals and an Iranian citizen, for their alleged involvement in trafficking 2,988 kgs of narcotics into India through a Gujarat port, an official said.
The case relates to the seizure of 2,988.21 kgs of heroin at the Mundra Port in Gujarat by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Gandhidham, on September 13 last year.
The charge sheet was filed before a NIA Special Court here, the official of the premier investigation agency said.
They have been charged under sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the official said.
Machavaram Sudhakar and Durga Purna Govindaraju Vaishali of Chennai, Rajkumar Perumal of Coimbatore and Pradeep Kumar of Ghaziabad have been named in the charge sheet along with six Afghan nationals -- Mohammad Khan Akhlaqi, Said Mohammad Hussaini, Fardin Amery, Sobhan Aryanfar, Alokozai Mohammad Khan and Murtaza Hakimi, the NIA official said.
Six absconding accused, who have also been charge sheeted, are Iranian national Javad Najafi along with five Afghan nationals -- Mohammad Hussain Dad, Mohammad Hassan, Najibullah Khan Khalid, Esmat Ullah Honari and Abdul Hadi Alizada, the official said.
The case relates to the seizure of 2988.21 kgs of narcotic substance (heroin) at the Mundra Port in Gujarat by the DRI, Gandhidham, on September 13 last year. It was being imported by M/s Aashi Trading Company and exported by M/s Hasan Hussain Ltd, Kandahar, Afghanistan, through the Bandar Abbas Port of Iran, the NIA official said.
The narcotics were found concealed in import consignment of 'semi-processed talc stones' originating from Afghanistan, the official said.
The smuggling of narcotics into India was carried out earlier as well by the same set of accused, the NIA official said.
These included the offences registered by DRI Delhi Zonal unit wherein 16.105 kg of heroin was seized from a warehouse in Delhi, and a case registered in Hoshiarpur, Punjab, wherein 20.250 kg of heroin was seized.
These two offences were also subsumed in this case as connected offences, according to the official.
Mohammad Hussain Dad and Mohammad Hasan of M/s Hasan Hussain Ltd, Kandahar, and accused M Sudhakar, D P Vaishali and Rajkumar Perumal of M/s Aashi Trading Company along with others had entered into a criminal conspiracy to smuggle a huge quantity of narcotics to India by concealing in consignments of semi processed talc, the NIA official said.
The consignment sent in September 2021 was intercepted whereas earlier consignments were received and stored in a warehouse in Delhi for further distribution in Delhi and Punjab, the official said.
Links of the accused Mohammad Hussain and Mohammad Hasan Dad and other co-conspirators have also emerged with proscribed terror organisations based in Pakistan, the NIA official said.
The proceeds of drugs trafficking were channelled back to foreign entities through hawala channels at the behest of Pakistan-based terror outfits for use in anti-India activities, the NIA official said, adding that further investigation in the case continues.
