The Enforcement Directorate has registered a money laundering case to probe a global drugs trafficking racket following the arrest of kingpin Jaffer Sadiq, a former functionary of Tamil Nadu ruling party DMK, on Saturday.

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The case is expected to spell trouble for the DMK ahead of the Lok Sabha elections since Sadiq, arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), is alleged to have paid ₹7 lakh to a senior functionary of the Tamil Nadu-based regional party. State Law Minister and DMK leader, S Regupathy on Sunday denied that his party has any links with Sadiq or any financial dealing.

He was expelled from the DMK in February after his name surfaced in the drug smuggling case. The NCB sources said the senior DMK party functionary will be summoned soon for questioning on two transactions of ₹7 lakh made by Sadiq.

The ED filed the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act taking cognizance of FIRs filed by the NCB and others to probe the drug trafficking racket valued at ₹2,000 crore in the international market.

The NCB in its press conference after Sadiq’s arrest had said the drug pusher’s alleged links with Tamil and Hindi film financers, including some “high profile” people, are being probed. The producer of Tamil films is also accused of “political funding” which NCB said was also under its scanner.

He told the NCB, as per the agency, that he was the Chennai West deputy organiser of the DMK’s NRI wing before his removal from the party.

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The agency stated that Sadiq was the alleged “mastermind and kingpin” of the drugs trafficking racket and his involvement in smuggling about 3,500 kgs of pseudoephedrine is being probed. The NCB in February had arrested three persons after conducting raids in Delhi.

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