Representational picture of arrest,
Credit: iStock Image
Chennai: Film producer and expelled DMK functionary, A K Jaffer Sadiq, the alleged mastermind of an international drug smuggling ring worth Rs 2,000 crore busted last month, was on Saturday arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), from New Delhi.
The anti-drug agency, after interrogation of the alleged accused, said Sadiq spearheaded a network that sourced pseudoephedrine in India and trafficked it to Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia in the guise of food- grade cargo.
The drug syndicate operated by Sadiq, whose social media pages flaunt his connections with the top DMK leadership, is understood to have sent 45 consignments containing about 3,500 kg of the drug material in the past three years.
“Sadiq has revealed that he has earned a huge amount of money from his illicit drug trafficking operations and has invested the same in legitimate businesses in industries like film, construction, and hospitality,” Gyaneshwar Singh, Deputy Director General, NCB, said in New Delhi.
The alleged accused’s financial linkages with respect to drug trafficking is under investigation to identify Sadiq’s sources of funds and beneficiaries of the proceeds of drugs. Sadiq has produced five films and was admitted into the DMK in 2019.
Singh added that Sadiq has admitted to his links with the film industry in Tamil Nadu and has also “shared some information” regarding his political links, which is being probed.
Pseudoephedrine is a precursor chemical that is used in the manufacturing of Methamphetamine, a dangerous and highly addictive synthetic drug. Even though it has some legal uses, it is classified as a controlled substance in India, bringing strict regulation on its production, possession, trade, export and use. Illegal possession and trade is punishable up to 10 years of imprisonment under the NDPS Act, 1985.
Sadiq’s role came into the fore after the Delhi Police and the NCB raided a large godown in west Delhi based on February 15 on an input that they received from authorities in Australia and New Zealand. The raid yielded 50 kg of pseudoephedrine with authorities busting an international network involved in the smuggling of 3,500 kg of pseudoephedrine, valued at pegged at over Rs 2,000 crore.
Sadiq, who was sacked as deputy organiser of the DMK’s NRI wing (Chennai west) and expelled from the party on February 25 after his name cropped up in the drug cartel, was in the hiding since then. “He was picked up from Delhi on Saturday morning,” the NCB said.
After the recovery, NCB raided premises belonging to Sadiq across Tamil Nadu, with the BJP accusing the DMK of “harbouring” drug peddlers and enabling the sale of drugs without hinderance across the state.
Sadiq, who has produced five films, had in the past met Chief Minister M K Stalin, his son Udhayanidhi, and other DMK leaders with the photographs clicked during the meetings going viral on social media.
The involvement of Sadiq in an international drug cartel has given enough ammunition for the AIADMK and BJP to target the DMK. AIADMK has been conducting protests across Tamil Nadu demanding that the DMK government takes steps to prevent sale of drugs in the state.
Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai has alleged that Sadiq is a notorious criminal and an international drug lord by pointing to his involvement for smuggling 38.687 Kg of ketamine to Malaysia in 2019.
“Jaffar Sadiq made Tamil Nadu their abode after DMK came to power in May 2021 & colluded with leaders in DMK to expand their empire. DMK and others denying any knowledge of Jaffar’s arrest in 2013 for drug trafficking and escaping arrest in 2019 for drug trafficking should be gently reminded that the people of the state aren’t like DMK dimwits,” he had alleged.