Thiruvananthapuram heroin smuggling duo part of TN criminal network: DRI

KOCHI: A probe by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) into the background of two Thiruvananthapuram natives, who were part of the 20-member fishermen group recently caught for smuggling 217.52kg of heroin in two fishing boats, revealed the role of a criminal network in Tamil Nadu.

The two Malayalis -- Sujan T, 28, Cheelanthivilakam, Pozhiyoor, and Francis D, 56, Kottaparam, Vizinjam -- became part of the drug trafficking cartel through this network. “Though the two hail from Kerala, they have strong links in Chennai,” said an official source in the DRI.

The DRI probe revealed that both of them were involved in serious criminal offences in the past and one of them even faced murder charges. “They have links with criminal rackets in Chennai and other parts of Tamil Nadu. We suspect that the two got into the drug cartel through these connections,” the official said, adding it’s suspected that the duo even took up fishing as a cover for their criminal activities. The report stated that the two fishing boats, from which the drugs were seized, were registered in Tamil Nadu.

A 2022 NATO - Defence Education Enhancement Programme (DEEP) report speaks about fishing vessels off Indian coast transiting consignments of heroin, synthetic drugs, weapons, and ammunition mid-sea. The report, quoting an official at the US Drug Enforcement Agency, states the role of Pakistani drug trafficking organisations behind the trafficking. The report says the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in January 2021 nabbed two Sri Lankan traffickers in Chennai identified as M M M Nawas and Mohamed Afnas. Nawas worked for Sri Lankan national Kanjipani Imran, who worked directly with Dawood Ibrahim’s D-Company.