ED arrests 2 from Lucknow for shipping 'banned' drugs to US clients

New Delhi, Mar 11 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday said it has arrested two persons in Lucknow as part of a money laundering investigation linked to a drugs trafficking ring that shipped "banned" medicines to the US.

Shantanu Gupta and Abdul Wahab Yasir were taken into custody on Monday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the federal probe agency said in a statement.

The money laundering case stems from a Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) investigation against a company named Hatsh Telecommunication Pvt. Ltd. and some others for "trafficking" psychotropic substances from India to the US.

The accused were "involved" in supplying "banned" drugs to US citizens. It was found that these persons incorporated six companies during 2012-17 and operated a call centre from the office of the said companies located in Lucknow, the ED said.

They used to obtain raw data of US citizens from a portal and identify potential customers for supplying restricted/psychotropic medicines. They then called the persons in the US through Skype, secured orders and advance payment and later shipped the restricted medicines through India Post, according to the agency.

The accused got Rs 23.67 crore between 2012 and 2017 in the accounts of various companies, including Hatsh Telecommunication, it said. PTI NES DIV DIV