Kochi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has exposed the nexus between drug and arms smugglers and terror operatives in South Asia. The continuing probe into a bust in the high seas off the Kerala coast confirmed that the Pakistan-based Haji Salim drug cartel has operatives in the southwestern coastal state.
This information was obtained when the Sri Lankan natives, who were arrested from the coastal waters near Vizhinjam, were interrogated in jail.
The drug cartel which has Pakistan coast as the base has been smuggling arms and drugs into India and other neighbouring countries on a large scale. The racket uses fishing boats to smuggle the contraband.
The sleeper cells of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are being used for the smuggling of drugs, the NIA said. These cells were dormant with the elimination of its leader Veluppillai Prabhakaran in 2009.
The NIA is expanding its investigation based on the findings from the interrogation of C Gunasekaran, one of the Sri Lankans arrested by the agency. Gunasekaran revealed that it is the Haji Salim network that is providing funds for reviving the LTTE’s activities in India and Sri Lanka. The money is being paid as return for transporting drugs and arms. The drug mafia is also using persons from Iran for the activity.
The NIA will record in detail the statements of the Sri Lankans, including Gunasekaran, now detained in the Thiruchirappally jail in Tamil Nadu.
In May 2021 illegal arms and ammunition were seized from a Sri Lankan fishing boat 'Ravihansi' off the coast of Vizhinjam in southern Kerala. The NIA had arrested a Sri Lankan national after the bust. In March that year a huge quantity of narcotics was seized from another Sri Lankan fishing boat in the Arabian Sea.
The Haji Salim mafia procures drugs from Afghanistan and arms from Pakistan. The statements of the detenus point to help being given by Pakistan’s spy agency, the Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI), for these criminal activities.
The NIA has come across proof that the persons who carried out explosions in Coimbatore and Mangaluru recently had links with the group that caused suicide blasts in houses of worship in Sri Lanka on Easter in 2019.
Shariq, who was arrested with injuries after the Mangaluru explosion, had stayed in Kerala before the incident, the NIA had found during the probe.
Crackdown on
As reported earlier a major crackdown on narcotic syndicates is currently on across India. This has resulted in a series of major drug hauls of late. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) was behind the recent drug bust off Kerala coast.
A special intelligence wing is to be based in Kochi to strengthen the NCB’s activities in southern India. Ten officers, who have been trained in foreign countries, would be appointed for the unit in Kochi. They would also get the cooperation of the Naval Intelligence wing. The NCB has chalked out an operation to check drug smuggling through the coasts of Kerala. The Central NCB has the responsibility for the prosecution proceedings. The Indian Navy and the Coast Guard will help in preventing drug smuggling by sea and the Border Security Force would aid in checking drug smuggling across land borders.
