KOCHI: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), probing the seizure of 3.9kg hashish oil from a consignment at a courier centre in Kaloor, Kochi, in September 2021, has expanded the probe to Bahrain as the investigation found that one of the accused worked in the Gulf country’s police department.
The NCB officials were in for a surprise when the probe revealed that the fifth accused in the case Davood R, 32, of Chavakkad worked in the Bahrain police department and the consignment was allegedly booked in his name for transportation. “Though the court has granted him bail after we arrested him, a detailed probe is on to ascertain how he got involved in it,” said an NCB official.
As per the probe, a total of five persons were already identified in the case with the main accused being 41-year-old Ahamad Roufali from Kasaragod. Ahamad, along with two other persons, hatched a conspiracy and procured 3.9kg of hashish oil from Andhra Pradesh and couriered it through AW Courier and Cargo Service in Ernakulam before sending it to Bahrain.
While Ahamad, during interrogation, had claimed that h e used to send ayurvedic medicines to Davood in Bahrain and was totally clueless how the contraband got into the consignment, the probe by the NCB had revealed a few alleged financial transactions between the accused and the details of a trip Ahamad had made to Andhra Pradesh along with second accused Muhammed Shareef, 28, of Kasaragod.
It was on September 10, 2021, that the NCB seized the contraband from a courier parcel based on an intelligence input. Of the 17 packets found inside the parcel labelled as ayurvedic medicine and sweets, eight plastic containers were found containing 3.960g of hashish oil. The officials said the attempt was to transport hashish oil in the guise of food articles and ayurvedic medicines.
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