The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on March 9 arrested Tamil film producer Jaffer Sadiq for his alleged involvement in an international drug cartel spanning India, Australia, Malaysia and New Zealand. Sadiq was recently expelled by Tamil Nadu’s ruling DMK party. He used to be the Madras West deputy organiser of the party’s NRI wing. It is alleged that he had recently opened a hotel in Madras with money earned from drug trafficking.
On February 15, the NCB arrested Sadiq’s three aides — Mukesh (34), Mujibur Rahman (26) and Ashok Kumar (33) — and seized 50 kg. of pseudoephedrine, used to make narcotic drugs, during a search in a Delhi godown. The disclosures made by the trio put the sleuths on Sadiq’s trail. He had been hiding in Thiruvananthapuram, Bombay, Pune, Ahmedabad and Jaipur.
The gang sent pseudoephedrine to Australia and New Zealand by hiding it in desiccated coconut powder and food powder. In the past three years, they sent 45 such consignments to Australia, successfully trafficking around 3,500 kg. of the compound. Sadiq is believed to have told the NCB that he got Rs. 1 lakh per kg. as “cut” from the proceeds. “One of his films was made using drug money,” said an official of the NCB.