Yet another instance of terror funding through the supply of party pills has surfaced, with the seizure of 160 kg of precursor pseudoephedrine tablets by the Delhi Police Special Cell, believed to be intended for supply to units operating in Myanmar, which reportedly manufacture party pills like “ice” to cater to a huge demand in the international market. Three persons, including an alleged conduit of a Manipur-based banned outfit, have been arrested.
The initial information on the narco-terror network were received by the Special Cell sleuths, when they learnt that some persons from Manipur were smuggling narcotics, particularly the precursor chemical to methamphetamine, which is commonly known as party pill “meth”, ice, or crystal.
Investigations by a team comprising three inspectors revealed that the consignments were being supplied allegedly at the instance of Khumanba, a top commander of the banned terror outfit Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup of Manipur.
He was allegedly controlling the supply chain through one John Lalmingthanga (35), who the police learnt had stocked a large consignment at a Janakpuri flat in West Delhi.
“The narcotic and controlled substances were being stored and transported for supply to Myanmar and China via Manipur,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell), Sanjiv Yadav.
Acting on information that John would hand a consignment to an accomplice at Janakpuri, the police laid a trap on Thursday and arrested him, along with one Ashem Danny Singh (32).
“We seized from them pure pseudoephedrine in the form of tablets in five cardboard boxes, weighing more than 100 kg,” said Mr. Yadav.
At their instance, the police raided the storehouse and seized seven lakh more tablets, weighing 60 kg, each containing 80 per cent of the precursor chemical, besides shipping material and 10 bags of empty bubble foil for the pills. The third accused, named Lalawmpuia (27), was also arrested.
“John, an ex-serviceman from Assam Rifles, who belongs to Manipur, had been living in Safdarjung Enclave. He quit his job in 2008, shifted to the Capital, and started dealing in second-hand vehicles, and also ran some food-stalls.
In due course, he got initiated into the party pill trade at the instance of a cousin, who is also allegedly into such trafficking business in Manipur.
His accomplice, Ashem, also from Manipur, earlier worked as a teacher at home. He shifted to Delhi in 2002, and allegedly started working as a tout, facilitating government contracts for his clients. John allegedly took him into the business in September, to exploit his contacts with party pill distributers in Delhi.
The accused, Lalawmpuia, who belongs to Mizoram, worked at a call centre in neighbouring Gurgaon, and had provided his rented accommodation to John to stock the consignments, said the police.
Mr. Yadav said the accused were procuring the consignments from pharmaceutical factories in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi through local distributors.
“The pills were reprocessed to extract pure pseudoephedrine, which was transported to Myanmar for the manufacturing of methamphetamine,” he added.
