Russian national sentenced to 18 yrs in jail in drug trafficking case

A Russian national was sentenced to 18 years rigorous imprisonment for his involvement in an international pharmaceutical drug trafficking network by a special court handling drug cases, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) said here on Wednesday.

The officials of NCB Chennai busted an international pharmaceutical drug trafficking network in September 2011 and booked a complaint against a Russian national and others.

According to the officials, the Russian based out of Puducherry used to procure banned 'psychotropic substances' through another individual from Villupuram in Tamil Nadu and the duo used to then ship the drugs to the United States and the United Kingdom through speed posts declaring them as 'herbal medicines', a press release from NCB Zonal Director Amit Ghawate said.

The case which came up for hearing on Tuesday at the NDPS Court here saw the Russian national, the kingpin, appearing as his own counsel.

The Additional Special Judge for NDPS Act cases pronounced the judgement that the Russian national was found guilty and convicted him for 18 years for offences under various sections of the NDPS Act with a fine of Rs 5 lakh, the release said.

''This stringent judgement by the Special Court for NDPS Act Cases, Chennai and the efforts of NCB officials have given a serious dent to the drug mafia and traffickers operating in Chennai and Tamil Nadu with international ramifications'', the release added.