A month ago, if someone mentioned the name Jaffer Sadiq, not many even in Tamil Nadu, would have been able to relate to him. Today, he has become a nightmare for sections of the high and mighty in the State. For the Opposition, he is the latest political weapon in an election season.
Sadiq is a little known film producer. Some months ago, the Narcotics Control Board (NCB) in Delhi, said it received a tip off from the New Zealand customs and Australian police about large shipments of pseudoephedrine being sent to those countries in the cover of food grade drugs.
The NCB also got a tip off from the United States Drugs Enforcement Administration (DEA) saying the likely origin of this consignment could be New Delhi. Pseudoephedrine is a chemical used to manufacture meth. The NCB said in mid-February, it managed to raid a godown where these consignments were stored and it arrested three persons, all belonging to Tamil Nadu.
These drug operatives told the NCB that Sadiq was the mastermind of the struggling racket. The NCB has now taken Sadiq into his custody and has declared that Sadiq’s network extends to several countries such as New Zealand, Australia and Malaysia. The NCB has also said that Sadiq has revealed details of his ill-gotten wealth being used to finance his movies.
The NCB is also investigating “political funding” by him. Sadiq, incidentally, was the deputy organiser of the DMK NRI Wing’s Chennai district unit. After his name was linked to this drug cartel, the DMK general secretary Duraimurugan expelled Sadiq from the party.
Script and Presentation: D Suresh Kumar
Videography: S Shiva Raj
Production: Shibu Narayanan
