LTTE revival connection under investigation over recent Indian drug haul

BY S VENKAT NARAYAN  
Our Special Correspondent

EW DELHI, October 15: A Pakistan-based drug lord has come under the scanner for allegedly trying to revive the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka. The funding for it appears to be through the supply and sale of large quantities of heroin in India.The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) recently seized 200kg of heroin worth INR 12 billion off the Kerala coast, allegedly linked to a Pakistan-based drug cartel owned by Haji Salim, Indian officials said.

Salim’s name first surfaced during investigations by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in July this year, when the agency said that Salim, along with Sri Lankan drug mafia don C Gunashekharan alias Guna and Pushparajah alias Pookutti Kanna, were pushing illegal drugs and arms into India using the sea route for reviving the LTTE.The agency is also investigating the seizure of arms and the arrest of two youths by the Tamil Nadu police. The accused were inspired by the LTTE, and wanted to wage an armed struggle in Tamil Nadu too, according to the police.

After taking over the probe from the Tamil Nadu police, the NIA claimed to have seized from the arrested youths photographs of LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, invoices for the purchase of materials used for manufacturing of illegal firearms, ammunition and explosive substances, seeds for making poison and jungle survival kits.

After the seizure of heroin, the NCB found links to Salim’s drug cartel. “The seized packets had markings and packing specialities unique to Afghan- and Pakistan-based drug cartels. While some of the drug packets had ‘Scorpiaon’ seal markings, the others had ‘dragon’ seal markings. They had water-proof, seven-layered packing.

The drugs were partially meant for Sri Lanka and India, and were being smuggled using an Iranian boat and crew. Six Iranians were arrested and booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, according to the NCB.

According to NCB sources, the drugs were sourced from Afghanistan and transported to Pakistan. They said: “The consignment was then loaded on to the seized vessel off the Pakistan coast in a mid-sea exchange. The vessel then set sail to Indian waters for delivery to another Sri Lankan vessel, but the Sri Lankan vessel could not be tracked.”

“The southern route for trafficking of heroin from Afghanistan to the Markan coast of Iran and Pakistan, and then to various countries in the Indian Ocean, including India, has gained prominence over the last few years,” the NCB said.