Mundra Drug Case: ED Raids In Delhi
The latest searches were based on fresh inputs, including allegations that proceeds from narcotics trafficking were invested in some nightclubs in Delhi: Reports
NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted searches at multiple locations in Delhi in connection with a money laundering investigation linked to the 2021 Mundra port heroin haul, officials said.
The agency searched at least five premises in the capital, including those linked to Delhi-based businessman Harpreet Singh Talwar alias Kabir Talwar, Shamshudeen and others, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, officials said.
Talwar, who operates nightclubs in Delhi, was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in August 2022 in the case. He was recently granted bail by the Gujarat High Court.
The case stems from the seizure of 2,988.21 kg of Afghan-origin heroin at Mundra port in Gujarat's Kutch district in September 2021. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) had seized the consignment, estimated to be worth about Rs 21,000 crore in the international illegal drugs market. Investigators said the shipment reached India through Iran.
The ED registered a money laundering case in 2021. Officials said the latest searches were based on fresh inputs, including allegations that proceeds from narcotics trafficking were invested in some nightclubs in Delhi.
According to the NIA chargesheet, proceeds from the drug trafficking network were allegedly used to fund activities of the Pakistan-based banned terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
The NIA had said the consignment was a test case in which heroin was allegedly sent to India disguised as a legal import of semi-processed talc stones, a raw material used in various industries.