Published: Friday December 10, 2010 MYT 5:34:00 PM
Indian drug kingpin who supplied ketamine to M’sia held
CHENNAI: A notorious Indian drug kingpin who once worked as a restaurant waiter in Kuala Lumpur, has been arrested for spearheading a cross-continent drug racket spanning India, Malaysia and the United Kingdom.
The 55-year-old suspect, who supplied ketamine to international drug rings, was nabbed at the Anna International Airport here while he was about to depart for the KL International Airport last Sunday.
"His modus operandi is amazing, he hires carriers (air passengers) to carry ketamine to Malaysia. "Later, he flies to Malaysia and collects the parcel from the passenger when they arrive at the airport.
"These parcels are creatively packed like wedding gifts with ketamine concealed inside them. They are then passed on to Malaysian (drug) gangs," Bangalore Customs senior officer Vijay Bellary told Bernama in a telephone interview.
He said the Chennai-based suspect, dubbed 'Alim Bhai' in local drug trafficking circles, had been on the Bangalore Customs Department 'Wanted List' for almost a year. Bellary said the man had once worked as a waiter at a restaurant in Malaysia, in the late 80s.
The suspect sourced ketamine from other states like Ahmedabad and Mumbai in bulk and later sent the drug in smaller quantities to major Southeast Asian cities, he added.
According to investigators in Bangalore, India's IT capital in the state of Karanataka, the suspect paid drug couriers about 10,000 Indian rupees (RM700) each for every sortie to Malaysia. - Bernama
