Mundra Port Seizure: Heroin Sale Proceeds Were Handed To Lashkar To Fund Terror Activities, Says NIA

An NIA probe into the 2021 Mundra Port narcotics seizure in Gujarat has found that funds from the heroin sales were to fund Lashkar-e-Taiba's terrorist activities in India.

An NIA probe into the 2021 Mundra Port narcotics seizure in Gujarat has found that funds from the heroin sales were to fund Lashkar-e-Taiba's terrorist activities in India.

A National Investigation Agency (NIA) investigation into the 2021 Mundra Port narcotics seizure in Gujarat has revealed that funds generated from the sale of heroin were provided to the operatives of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) to carry out terrorist activities in India. The case relates to the seizure of over 2,988 kilograms of heroin at the Mundra Port, which was sent from Afghanistan through Bandar Abbas in Iran.

The NIA has filed a second supplementary chargesheet against 22 accused in the case, including six Afghan nationals and seven firms.

The case was initially registered by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence's Gandhidham unit in Gujarat and was later re-registered by the NIA on October 6, 2021. The NIA had earlier filed a chargesheet against 16 accused on March 14, 2022, and the first supplementary chargesheet was filed against nine others on August 29, 2022.

The supplementary chargesheet has been filed in the special NIA court, Ahmedabad, in Gujarat, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The accused, including prime accused Harpreet Singh Talwar alias "Kabir Talwar", are charged with an organised criminal conspiracy to smuggle illegal consignments of heroin through international trade routes to India from Afghanistan.

During the investigation, a network of operatives involved in the import, facilitation, and transport of drug-laden consignments was uncovered. The consignments were imported through multiple fake/shell import proprietorship firms floated in India through multiple accused. Talwar, who is running multiple trades in New Delhi, like clubs, retail showrooms, and import firms, participated in the conspiracy for exploiting the commercial sea-route of import in order to smuggle heroin into India in commercial quantities.

The NIA has identified over a dozen such firms and investigated them, including a charge-sheeted firm, M/s Magent India, which was used to import and receive heroin disguised as semi-processed talc stone from Afghanistan to India. Investigation revealed that an organised network of syndicate members was being run by foreign-based narcotic traders for importing the heroin-laden consignments into Indian Ports (Mundra, Kolkata) and its further delivery to various warehouses located at New Delhi. The India-based network of Afghan nationals was responsible for hiring these warehouses and for processing/extracting and distributing the heroin once it reached New Delhi.

(With PTI inputs.)