NCB gets custody of Pakistani national in 2500 kg drug seizure off Kerala

A court in Kochi granted the Narcotics Control Bureau 14-day custody of the Pakistani national arrested in connection with the seizure of over 2,500 kg of methamphetamine from a vessel in Indian waters off the port city.

The NCB informed the court that the accused was working for a Pakistani drug trafficker.

In a custody application filed by the agency on Monday evening, the NCB said the drug trafficker from Pakistan had offered Zubair Derakshshandeh, "good money" after the work was completed.

The actual commercial value of the contraband after its latest evaluation was close to Rs 25,000 crore.

The court after considering the contentions of the agency granted it 14 days custody of the accused.

"The net weight of methamphetamine came out to be 2,525.675 kg," the NCB said.

Initially valued at Rs 12,000 crore, the NCB had said that it was the largest seizure of methamphetamine in the country so far.

The agency claimed that the latest consignment of over 2,500 kg of methamphetamine was meant for India, Sri Lanka and Maldives from Afghanistan.

The drug cache had started on a "mother ship" -- a large vessel that distributes narcotics to various boats during its journey --  from the Makran coast around Pakistan and Iran.

As many as 132 sacks of suspected methamphetamine, the intercepted boat and some other items salvaged from the ship along with the Pakistani national were brought to Mattancherry Wharf and handed over by the Navy to the NCB, it said.