Drug bust off Kerala: Court sends Pak national to NCB custody till May 27

A court in Kochi on Tuesday granted the Narcotics Control Bureau custody of a Pakistan national, arrested in connection with the seizure of over 2,500 kilograms of methamphetamine from a vessel in Indian waters, till May 27.

The NCB had sought custody of Zubair Derakshshandeh for five days from May 22, said advocate B A Aloor who is representing the accused in the case.

In the remand report filed by the agency on May 16, it had said that a drug trafficker from Pakistan had offered the accused, "good money" after the work was completed.

The agency had on May 15 said that the actual commercial value of the contraband after its latest evaluation was close to Rs 25,000 crore, because of the high purity of the seized methamphetamine.

NCB had said that the contraband was kept in 2,525 plastic boxes and placed in 132 sacks. "The net weight of methamphetamine came out to be 2,525.675 kg," the agency had said.

It had also said that it was the largest seizure of methamphetamine in the country. The drugs were seized in a joint operation by the Navy and NCB.

The agency had claimed that the consignment was meant for India, Sri Lanka and Maldives from Afghanistan.

The seized drugs, the intercepted boat and some other items salvaged from the vessel along with the Pakistani national were brought to Mattancherry Wharf and handed over by the Navy to the NCB, it said.