ED seizes over Rs 60 lakh cash, gold after raids against drugs trafficker in Mumbai

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday said it seized cash and gold worth more than Rs 60 lakh after it conducted searches against an alleged narcotics trafficker, Ali Asgar Shirazi, and some others in Mumbai.

The ED case, filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), stems from a Mumbai police FIR. Police had booked Shirazi and some linked persons in a case of seizure of 15.74 kg ketamine (an anaesthetic category of drug) amounting to Rs 7.87 crore, the central agency said in a statement.

The ED said its probe found that huge cash deposits were made in the accounts linked to Shirazi and related persons and entities, which prima facie appeared to be "illegal money earned via selling of drugs".

Cash worth Rs 5.50 lakh, gold worth Rs 57.11 lakh, digital devices including mobile phones and laptops, and 'incriminating' records were seized during four rounds of raids undertaken in Mumbai during this month, it said.