Mundra drug seizure: ED raids 5 Delhi spots in money laundering probe

The ED raided five Delhi locations in a money laundering probe linked to the 3,000 kg Mundra port drug seizure. The raids targeted premises linked to Harpreet Singh Talwar, with officials suspecting drug money was invested in city nightclubs.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday carried out searches at five locations in Delhi as part of its ongoing probe into a money laundering investigation in connection with the nearly 3,000 kg Mundra port drug seizure case.

ED Probe into Drug Money Trail

The raids are being conducted at the premises linked to Harpreet Singh Talwar, Shamshudern, and their associates under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Officials said the agency is investigating the alleged laundering of proceeds generated from the narcotics trade. "Preliminary findings suggest that a portion of the drug money was routed into investments in nightclubs in the national capital, raising concerns over the use of illicit funds in the hospitality sector," said the officials, privy to the investigation.

The ED's headquarters unit initiated the searches on Tuesday, and further investigation is currently underway to trace the money trail and identify additional links in the case.

Previous NIA Arrests and Investigation

In August 2022, the NIA had arrested Harpreet Singh Talwar alias Kabir Talwar, a resident of Delhi, in connection with the same case linked to the seizure of 2988 kg of heroin at Mundra Port on September 13, 2021. He was arrested along with one Prince Sharma, another resident of Delhi, following simultaneous searches at 20 locations in various States (Delhi-14, Gujarat-2, Punjab-1 and West Bengal-3) in the case RC (26/2021/NIA/DLI). They were arrested based on an investigation into their involvement in smuggling heroin through import consignments from Afghanistan using the maritime route. Talwar was recently released on bail.

As per the NIA investigation, both Talwar and Sharma are a part of an international drug smuggling network involved in smuggling large commercial quantities of Heroin originating from Afghanistan into India. Heroin was being concealed in import consignments of material, such as semi-processed Talc, Bituminous coal, etc.

NIA then informed that one such consignment of about 3000 kgs of Heroin was intercepted and seized at Mundra Port by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on September 13, 2021. It said the accused persons were involved in the import of narcotics through fake and shell import companies and further facilitated its transport to Delhi-based Afghan nationals involved in the purification and distribution of Heroin in many states, including Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. NIA investigation is continued in the case to unravel the entire supply chain and network of money laundering, drug distribution and other players involved in this international drug network.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)