India’s national anti-narcotics agency claims to have busted an international drug smuggling syndicate with the arrest of nine people who were allegedly involved in the smuggling of 55 kilograms of cocaine to Australia earlier this year.
Those arrested include five Indians, two Nigerian nationals, an American and an Indonesian woman. The Narcotics Control Bureau said the alleged syndicate had been involved in the drug trade in several countries and the arrests came following several months-long operations.
Investigators also claim to have recovered 20 kilograms of South American cocaine.
In July this year, Australian Border Force officers arrested three Sydney men for allegedly smuggling 55 kilograms of cocaine from India, hidden in a heavy plasma cutting machine brought to Australia in a shipping container.
Indian authorities said their investigation began with the Australian investigating agencies tipping them off.
NCB's Deputy Director, SK Jha told reporters that the agency had busted the syndicate involved in the drug trade between India and Australia.
“The machine was stuffed with cocaine in Rudrapur (Uttrakhand in north India), then it was sent to Mumbai port in a container, from there it was sent to Sydney through a company,” SK Jha, Deputy Director of Narcotics Control Bureau, told reporters.
India’s Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement that the same syndicate had also unsuccessfully tried to smuggle 200 kilograms of methamphetamine to Australia where law enforcement agencies intercepted the illegal consignment in a shipping container.
The ABF said 55 kg cocaine was found stuffed in the cavity of this machine in July 2019. Source: ABF
The Ministry said the consignments of psychotropic drugs in India were found to be sourced from Canada, Australia and USA.
Mr Jha said the agency arrested an Indian national some time ago who had lived in Australia for nearly ten years before moving back to India, who was a member of the alleged syndicate.
“He was married to an Australian woman and had connections in Australia that he used for smuggling cocaine back in June,” Mr Jha said.
He claimed the contraband recovered by the ABF in Sydney was smuggled from Canada where several other members of the alleged syndicate still live.
Mr Jha said the alleged kingpin of the syndicate is a Canadian citizen of Indian descent and had been involved in several drug-related cases in Punjab.
