1.3 kg heroin seizure in 2014: Peddler awarded 10-year rigorous imprisonment

The court awarded the sentence after upholding the prosecution charges against Anandam Gundaluru (39), a native of Chittoor. Gundaluru was part of a heroin smuggling racket based in Kuwait and India. He was arrested with 1.377 kg of heroin when he was trying to smuggle it out of Chennai. 

“A syndicate of heroin trafficking operated by a Kuwait-based gang with associates in Tamil Nadu and Kerala used to despatch the narcotic from Delhi by train and send carriers to Kuwait to deliver the consignment,” the release said. 

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) kept continuous watch on the activity of the gang resulting in the seizure of around 14 kilograms of heroin and the arrest of 23 traffickers in 2014-15. All these seizures and arrests were made either at the International airport or railway stations in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The accused was caught at the Chennai international airport on 16 September 2014, the release added. 

The accused was convicted under to provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and he had to pay a total of Rs one lakh fine for each of the offences. If he fails to pay the fine, he will have to undergo an additional one-year rigorous imprisonment.