Hyderabad: Rs 19.5 crore heroin haul at RGIA, Tanzanian held

HYDERABAD: Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Monday seized three kg of heroin worth Rs 19.5 crore from Hyderabad airport and said a kingpin sitting in India is controlling the contraband trade across the country involving foreign nationals.
DRI sleuths arrested an African peddler from Johannesburg on Monday morning and said a similar seizure by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in Kochi on June 19, where 2.9 kg heroin was seized from a Zimbabwean woman who came from Johannesburg, indicates a pattern.
Acting on specific intelligence input, DRI team arrested John Williams of Tanzania, when he arrived at RGI Airport from Johannesburg via Doha and found the high-value contraband concealed in his trolley bag beneath the padding at the bottom.
In early June, DRI team had seized 12 kg of heroin from two women peddlers who came from Uganda and Zambia.
“The heroin seized on Monday was also in off-white colour like what we got from the two women peddlers who were arrested earlier this month. Williams was also supposed to hand over the heroin to his associate in the city and leave India after a few days,” said a DRI official.
DRI registered a case against the peddler under NDPS Act 1985, and will be produced before court for judicial remand.
“The contraband was handed over to the peddler at Johannesburg by a Nigerian living in South Africa. The destination was Delhi and via Doha, Kochi and Bangalore,” said an NCB official.
They claim to have identified an unusual pattern of trafficking of heroin produced in South West Asian countries. Traditionally, heroin from the golden crescent (Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan border area) was pushed into Indian territory through land borders with Pakistan, especially through Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir.
Due to increased vigil at the border and crackdown by NCB and Coast Guard on the high waters of Arabian sea, peddlers are moving heroin into India via Africa by air as it is not a traditional route for heroin trafficking which would be under the watch of enforcement agencies.
“However, detecting this trend early, we have put early identification and interception mechanism in place,” NCB Chennai Zone director Amit Ghawate said.