Close companion of Dawood Ibrahim; drug lord Haji Salim is owner of drugs worth Rs 25000 crore seized in Kochi

KOCHI: The drug bust that took place off the Kochi coast on Saturday was the biggest one in India. Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB) said that the actual value of the drugs seized in Operation Samudragupta is Rs 25000 crore. The final price was determined after the inspection of the drugs brought to Kochi port was completed yesterday evening. It was initially believed that the drugs were worth Rs 15000 crores. The drugs were kept in 2,800 boxes of one kilogram each. The boxes were waterproofed in three layers. The boxes were packed in 134 sacks bearing the names of various basmati rice companies in Pakistan.

Arrested Pakistani national Zubair admitted to the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) that the sunken 'mothership' contained drugs manufactured in labs at Jiwani in Pakistan's Balochistan province. The drugs and smuggling systems belong to the Haji Salim Network, Pakistan's notorious drug trafficking ring. He said that there were six Pakistanis with him in the mothership. NCB is verifying the information received from him regarding drug trafficking.

NCB sources told Kerala Kaumudi that Zubair had smuggled drugs for Haji Salim's network earlier as well and at that time he had delivered drugs to Sri Lanka and Maldives. The navy and the coastguard are continuing their efforts to find the people who escaped in a speedboat after the sinking of the unnamed mothership. They are hinted to be hiding in the uninhabited islands of Lakshadweep.

There were two speedboats in the mothership. NCB officials nabbed Zubair after following one of these boats. The officials also seized the boat he used to escape. The officials are also examining the GPS tracker from the sinking mothership.

Who is Haji Salim?

According to a Hindustan Times report, Haji Salim is the head of a drug mafia based in Afghanistan. He conducts business in countries such as India, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Gulf countries. Indian intelligence agencies have found that Haji Salim had a clear role behind several infiltration attempts made in Jammu and Kashmir along with the terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Pakistani spy agency ISI. Intelligence reports are claiming that Haji Salim is a close companion of Dawood Ibrahim.