NIA attaches two properties of key accused in 102 kg heroin seizure case

NIA arrested Zaidi on August 24 last year and on December 16, 2022, a charge sheet was filed against him, along with three other co-accused.

New Delhi: Two properties of an alleged prime accused in the seizure of 102 kg of heroin smuggled from Afghanistan via the Attari border in Punjab have been attached, National Investigation Agency (NIA) said on Wednesday.

The immovable properties of Razi Haider Zaidi (41), a resident of Okhla Vihar in the Jamia Nagar area of New Delhi, were attached under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, the federal agency said.

---

It said the assets include a two-storied residential building at Okhla Vihar purchased for Rs 24.50 lakh in the name of the accused’s wife and a residential plot measuring 121.35 square metres in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar which Zaidi had purchased for Rs 4 lakh.

The agency said both the properties were acquired by the accused from the proceeds of heroin sale.

Zaidi was arrested by the NIA on August 24 last year. A charge sheet against him and three other co-accused was filed on December 16, 2022, under the NDPS Act.

The 102-kg drug consignment was seized by the customs department on April 24 and 26 last year after the narcotics reached Integrated Check Post at Attari on April 22 and were found concealed in a shipment of licorice roots (mulethi), the agency said.

Investigations revealed that Zaidi was the receiver of this consignment, it said.

The NIA’s probe revealed that on the directions of Dubai-based co-accused Shahid Ahmed, who is absconding, over 102 kg of heroin concealed in the licorice roots consignment had been sent by Afghanistan-based heroin smuggler Nazir Ahmed Qani.

It was supposed to be delivered to Zaidi who had handed over Rs 11 lakh in cash to another accused as advance payment of the said consignment, the probe agency said.

Further investigations revealed that Ahmed alias Qazi Abdul Wadood directed Zaidi to collect and deliver heroin consignments from various places in India from time to time, it said.

The NIA said Zaidi had also collected Rs 2.5 crore cash from various states as proceeds of heroin sale and taken his share. He channelized some of the drug proceeds into the bank account of Ahmed while handing over the rest to his brother Azeem Ahmed and other associates.

In February last year, Zaidi, along with accused Ahmed and Qani smuggled heroin concealed in licorice roots imported from Afghanistan. About 50 kg of heroin was recovered from Zaidi by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and a case was registered against him and his associates.

The NIA said it has come on record that Zaidi is a “notorious” drug smuggler. In February last year, he imported 640 cans of chemicals through Iran for processing heroin at his rented godown in Muzaffarnagar, it said.

The narcotics were later seized by NCB in a joint operation with Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), the agency said.

It said investigations have also unearthed that in November 2021, on Ahmed’s instructions, Zaidi and two of his associates — Avtar Singh and Mohd Imran — went to Ahmedabad twice for collecting drugs, which they brought to Delhi and Zaidi supplied those to other associates.

The case was initially investigated by the customs department. NIA took over the investigation on the directions of the Ministry of Home Affairs.