The Customs Department has moved the court for permission to record the statements of the suspects in the diplomatic baggage gold smuggling case in connection with the recent high-profile drug bust in Karnataka.
The investigation by the Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB) had resulted in raids at the houses of entertainment industry persons in Bengaluru. It also ended in arrests and seizure of substantial amounts of synthetic drugs, including LSD stamps and ecstasy tablets. The NCB had named several persons from Kerala as accused in the NDPS case.
The anti-drug investigation became a politically contentious topic in Kerala with Muslim Youth League president K. Firoz charging that the name of Bineesh Kodiyeri, the son of CPI(M) State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, had figured in a court filing related to the case.
Mr. Firoz alleged that one of the suspects in the case was closely associated with Mr. Kodiyeri. The politician’s son later clarified that he did not know of the involvement of his friend in drug rackets.
The case took a turn with the NCB reportedly sharing third party information with the Customs. The NCB allegedly told the agency that some of the accused in the drug case had associated closely with persons named as suspects in the UAE consulate linked gold smuggling case. An analysis of their mobile phone usage and geo-location had spotlighted the link.
The same route?
A Customs Department official said the agency had viewed the charge seriously. The accused had smuggled contraband gold into the country from Dubai via air cargo consignments addressed to foreign officials at the UAE consulate here.
The NCB and Customs wanted to probe whether the same route was used for illegally importing banned narcotic drugs. An official said LSD stamps and synthetic medications in tablet and vial form were easy to conceal in everyday items. He said only a detailed questioning of the accused would reveal whether the racketeers had used the consulate route to import designer drugs.