Former DMK Leader Jaffer Sadiq Arrested in Drug Money Laundering Case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested former DMK leader Jaffer Sadiq in a drug-related money laundering case. Sadiq was interrogated in Tihar Jail, where he was already lodged in an NDPS case, and was arrested on June 26 after the interrogation.

The ED will seek his remand once he is produced in court. Earlier this month, the court had allowed the ED to examine Sadiq in Tihar Jail. Delhi’s Patiala House court granted permission to the ED to examine Sadiq and record his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Special NDPS judge Sudhir Kumar Sirohi granted permission to the ED to examine Sadiq on June 25 and 26 and to record his statement. The court directed the jail authorities to make necessary arrangements. The special public prosecutor for the ED, N K Matta, requested that ED officers be allowed to take a laptop and printer to record and sign statements.

Earlier, on May 1, the court had also granted permission to the ED to record statements of Sadiq and four others in Tihar Jail. The ED had conducted raids in Tamil Nadu as part of the investigation into drug-related money laundering involving Sadiq and others. The case was registered after the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) found Sadiq’s links with high-profile individuals and his involvement in international drug trafficking.

The NCB discovered that Sadiq’s network sourced pseudoephedrine in India and trafficked it to Australia, New Zealand, and Malaysia, marked as food-grade cargo. The syndicate operated by Sadiq had sent 45 consignments over three years, containing 3,500 kilograms of pseudoephedrine.