Iranians nabbed just in time

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) managed to nab the six Iranian nationals, who were manufacturing the party drug methamphetamine, two days before they could fly out of the country.

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) managed to nab the six Iranian nationals, who were manufacturing the party drug methamphetamine, two days before they could fly out of the country.

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The men had come to India on tourist visas. They arrived in three groups, starting on August 2, especially to make the drug. “They were experts in manufacturing methamphetamine from ephedrine by extracting the drug from cough and cold tablets,” a senior NCB official said on condition of anonymity.

The officer said the Iranians had finished their job and had planned to leave the country on August 22. But were arrested on August 20. They have been identified as Masoud Naserziyary (34), Hossein Aghaei (39), Amir Dehdashti (24), Mohammadreza Zorgari (33), Seyed Hosseini (35) and Gulam Azad (54).

The NCB officer said five of them could not speak English. Azad, who had visited India earlier too, worked as an interpreter for them when they interacted with their other accomplices, Kisoor Nandan — the Indian born Dutch national —Jacob Madathil, an Indian national, and Luis Carlos from Colombia.

The NCB is clueless about the destination these drugs were headed to. “We are trying to find that out,” said NCB’s Zonal Director Yashodhan Wanage.