10 August,2009 08:18 AM IST | | Imran Gowhar
Was on his way to Jakarta, which police say is the new hub for drug smugglers
EMIGRATION authorities at Bangalore International Airport yesterday detained a man trying to board a flight with the drug ketamine.
Tulfikhar Ali had concealed 7.5 kilograms of the date-rape drug in the bottom of an ice tray, and was flying from BIA to Jakarta on a visiting visa.
Preliminary investigations by airport police revealed that 29-year-old Ali, a native of Ramnad in Tamil Nadu, was acting as a carrier, having been promised Rs 10,000 for handing over the consignment to a contact in Jakarta.
This is the second such incident this week as Airport police had arrested an Abdul Lateef from Mumbai on August 4 and seized 4.3 kilograms of ketamine from him. Lateef was also carrying the drugs to Jakarta, reportedly on instructions from one Ayub, a Chennai based man.
Airport police have taken up the case and may seek central government help as there has been a steep rise in drug trafficking cases at Bangalore International Airport.
In the light of recent incidents, the authorities also suspect that Indonesia is becoming a new hub for ketamine smuggling from the subcontinent.
Smuggler's trail
Ali has reportedly confessed that he was operating under instructions from Sri Lankan national based Zaheer, who asked him to go to Bangladesh to meet one Rajesh.
Ali told the officials that he returned via Nepal and crossed the border by road to travel to Chennai and later to Bangalore to fly to Jakarta.
The officials suspect that Ali is part of an international drug racket. They are also not ruling out the possibility of terror links, given the gang's international network.
