ED adds 15 properties worth ₹3.77 crore in ongoing drug money laundering case linked to 2018 DRI failure

Mumbai: Investigating the complaint filed by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Mumbai Zonal Unit, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Panaji Unit, after the 2018 drug bust, provisionally attached 15 properties, including 11 immovable and four movable property, worth Rs3 0.77 crore. The exact location of the buildings has not been disclosed.

Investigations revealed that the proceeds from the sale of narcotics were concealed as money from unrelated parties and unknown sources, which were then invested in these properties, the ED said. The seizure is based on a complaint filed by the DRI in the court of Additional Special Judge for Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances cases.

The action – taken under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act – is part of an ongoing investigation into money laundering activities linked to a drug manufacturing and smuggling racket operating in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa. Eleven people, including foreigners, have been arrested so far.

In 2018, the DRI had claimed to have dismantled a major drug manufacturing center, resulting in the seizure of contraband worth Rs35 crore and the arrest of 11 people, including Rahul Balkrishna Shedge and Anthony Karakutty Paul. As chemical experts, the duo has been involved in the illegal production and distribution of narcotics for years, the ED said. Another suspect, Ishratkhan Parmar, a history writer, played a key role in the distribution network, it added.

In the subsequent investigation, the DRI found that impure ketamine was being produced at a factory in Panvel, intended for smuggling to Goa and Gujarat before being further distributed to the United Kingdom and Canada. The agency had raided 14 residential and industrial locations, seizing 308kg of ketamine, 2,000kg of raw materials capable of producing another 250kg of the drug, and other narcotics including hashish, cocaine and opium.

Further investigation revealed that one Jimmy Singh Sandhu, owner of the Goa processing facility, had allegedly prepared ketamine for smuggling into Canada and Punjab along with two British nationals, Jonathan Thorn and John Brecken. Sandhu, who previously lived in Canada, was deported four years ago before being arrested by the DRI.

Although Sandhu is said to have ties to international drug cartels, Thorn is an important figure in the narcotics trade, according to investigators. The other arrested suspects are Akshinder Sodhi, Purohit Jagdishbhai, Mayur Sadrani, Vietnam’s Nyugeh Kuong and Sarpreet Singh.

The proceeds of crime generated by Shedge, Paul and Parmar were disguised as money from relatives and unknown sources and then invested in the associated properties, the ED said. The assets are part of a larger network involved in drug trafficking, with connections to several conspiring entities and individuals, it added.