NEW DELHI, JUNE 28: Chhagan Khatri, alias Salim, a truck-driver from Sanchaur in Rajasthan, has been in the business of delivering drugs for the past two years. His last assignment was to deliver 22kg of drugs to various parts of the country. He transported drugs worth Rs 33 crore in the illegal international market. Khatri got Rs 10,000 per kg.He is just a small link in the drug network which spreads across countries. The seizure of 4 kg of heroin by the Narcotics Control Board last night near Delhi-Rajasthan border has exposed a drug trafficking network which may even have terrorist connections.In the latest seizure made last night in Rajokari on the Delhi-Jaipur highway, an Afghan and a Pakistani along with four Indians, have been detained. Officials say that their modus operandi has been similar to the ones in the past.Says the Zonal Director of NCB, Delhi Zonal Unit, Abrar Ahmed: ``The consignment originated in Afghanistan from where it was brought to Pakistan and later to India from Jalore on the Rajasthan-Gujarat border.'' The transportation is done under cover of darkness. The packets are ferried one at a time across the sealed border, Ahmed says. Carried on camel-backs into the border city of Jalore, the consignment is then routed to different destinations.In the latest incident, the destination for the heroin confiscated was Mumbai from where it was scheduled to be handed over to one Ahmed Raja, who, in turn, was to have passed it on to the LTTE in Sri Lanka. As a testimony to the strength of these `channels' is the fact that the latest seizure is part of a bigger consignment of 183 kg. ``We are optimistic that we will recover all of it, but it is not easy,'' he says.Apart from heroin and drugs, fake currency is also smuggled into India.
