On Saturday (9th March), the Narcotics Control Board (NCB) along with the Delhi Police Special Cell arrested absconding Tamil film producer Jaffer Sadiq. Former Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) functionary and film producer Sadiq is the accused mastermind of a Rs 2000 Crore international drug racket which the agency busted last month. Since then, the agencies have been on the lookout to arrest the absconding former DMK politician.
According to reports, Jaffer Sadiq, wanted in the smuggling of pseudo-Ephedrine drugs to foreign countries, was arrested from a hideout in Jaipur, Rajasthan.
NCB Deputy Director General (operations) Gyaneshwar Singh confirmed Sadiq’s arrest. Singh said, “He (Sadiq) is the kingpin of the India-Australia-New Zealand drug trafficking network, which we were probing.”
Sadiq is a Tamil film producer and a former office bearer of the DMK NRI wing who was expelled from the party recently.
NCB officials said that Sadiq is a prominent movie producer who has produced or co-produced at least four movies. Additionally, his fifth movie is set for release later this month.
Another senior NCB officer, asking not to be named, said, “We are probing if drug money was used in his production company. It looks like his production company was a front to launder money. He was on the run for the past two weeks.”
Meanwhile, reacting to the arrest of the main accused Sadiq, Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai said Jaffar Sadiq acted as their (DMK politician’s) conduit for Money laundering. He also urged the law enforcement authorities to comb deeply and ensure that Jaffar Sadiq’s network is exposed and busted to ensure the free flow of Drugs in TN under the DMK regime is curtailed.
Drug bust that led to the expose of International drug racket
The NCB in Delhi busted the sprawling drug trafficking network on 15th February this year, however, the officials shared this information on Saturday (24th February).
The operation was led by NCB officials in conjunction with the Delhi Police Special Cell. Three accused hailing from Tamil Nadu were arrested and the agencies seized 50 kilograms of pseudoephedrine, a key chemical used in the production of methamphetamine. It was revealed that the Tamil film producer Jaffer Sadiq is the mastermind of the racket who went absconding.
On 24th February, Gyaneshwar Singh said, “We received information from New Zealand customs authorities and Australian police that large quantities of pseudoephedrine concealed in desiccated coconut powder were being sent to both countries. Further inputs from the US DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) indicated that the source of the consignments was Delhi.”
Subsequently, the three men from Tamil Nadu were caught red-handed while packing around 50 kg of pseudoephedrine in a health supplement packet, resulting in the expose of a large International drug racket allegedly led by mastermind Jaffer Sadiq who served as office bearer of the DMK NRI wing until his expulsion following massive criticism.