Trio held with 30-kg cocaine gets 15 yrs in jail

The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act court has sentenced three foreigners, who were part of an international drug cartel, to 15 years’ imprisonment

The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act court has sentenced three foreigners, who were part of an international drug cartel, to 15 years’ imprisonment with a fine of ₹4 lakh each. The trio was arrested for possession of 30kg of cocaine worth ₹36 crore.

HT Image

The three convicts have been identified as Santander Tarazona Prado, 49, a Bolivian national; Juan Fernando Doncel Rivera, 33, a Colombian national, and Zahid Mir, 52, a British national of Pakistan origin.

The contraband allegedly arrived from South America with the help of a local businessman, Uday Dhanak, 56. Dhanak, who worked in the import-export business, was acquitted of all charges.

Special judge GB Gurao, while convicting the three accused, observed, “The offense is serious and against society at large. If the accused would have succeeded in the distribution of cocaine in India, it might have destroyed many families.”

As per the prosecution’s case, Prado and Rivera were caught from a Khar hotel by the narcotics control bureau (NCB) on February 14, 2012. During the search, officers had recovered bags containing 10-kg cocaine. During the investigation, the two revealed that they had received the contraband from Mir.

The agency arrested Mir from a house in Sakinakaand recovered 19.80kg of cocaine.

The prosecution had claimed that Prado came in contact with an international drug cartel in November 2011 and was sent to India to look after the business here. He later got in touch with Rivera. The two were given timely directions from their boss ‘Vinito’ to obtain the consignments from Mir and deliver them to customers across India. The prosecution had also argued that before they were caught, the two had visited Goa, where they sold 10kg of cocaine to two South African nationals.

Mir had allegedly collected the entire consignment from Dhanak on the instruction of Vinito. The prosecution also claimed that Vinito had asked Mir to visit India as Dhanak was not available and collect the consignment.

The court, however, acquitted Dhanak for want of evidence.