Mumbai: Shirazi Running Drug Empire From Jail, Says ED

The incarcerated drug lord Aliasgar Shirazi is allegedly orchestrating trafficking of psychotropic banned drugs from jail while in judicial custody. This was revealed in the prosecution complaint recently filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at the special court for the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

According to the prosecution complaint, digital forensic analysis of his wife Mehreen’s mobile phone revealed that Shirazi allegedly sent her and his accountant Siddhi Ganesh Jamdar messages from jail, instructing them to continue his illegal activities that had been halted due to his arrest. 

Shirazi allegedly instructed Mehreen and Jamdar to contact his associates. Sangam Singh (alias Golu Bhai) and Manoj Patel, to continue the illegal shipping of drugs from India. During interrogation, Mehreen admitted to being involved in drug trafficking and said she received written instructions on WhatsApp from her husband.

Following the instructions, she is said to have instructed Jamdar to coordinate with Singh for a US-bound shipment. For his part, Singh shared with Mehreen a detailed list of drugs and banned medicines, including Zoltarte, Oltram, Diaza, Rlam, and Trakem, specifying quantities. This shipment was allegedly delivered to Patel, who shared images of the boxes and a list detailing the contents with Mehreen and Jamdar. Throughout the operation, Mehreen allegedly remained in contact with Sangam and Patel through a Portugal-based number for cash receipts. She confessed to receiving about Rs1 crore in cash.

The prosecution complaint highlighted incriminating evidence, including conversations between Mehreen and Jamdar in July and August 2023. When confronted with the chats and Mehreen’s statement, Shirazi refuted the allegations. He claimed to have instructed Mehreen to coordinate with his associates in the courier industry and his prior business contacts for money for legal fees and loan payments.

As per the ED’s probe, Singh dispatched the last consignment for Shirazi in September 2023 and fled. He is believed to be in Dubai, from where he continues to operate his drugs business. Patel, the proprietor of M/s Shree Umiya International Logistics Company, for his part admitted to sending the opioid consignment in September 2023 and said that he carried out the operation when Jamdar contacted him, citing financial difficulties faced by Shirazi’s family. As per Shirazi, Patel is his business partner and was paid Rs75 lakh. The ED, however, found that Patel received proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs1.81 crore.

The ED’s prosecution complaint also alleges that the drug syndicate operated by Shirazi included firms in the field of telecommunication, logistics, consultancy and pharma. The call centres and websites of accused telecom companies were used to receive orders for drugs from foreign countries, following which the shipments were misdeclared as medicines or pharmaceuticals and smuggled overseas.