A control of narcotic substances (CNS) court has sentenced a man to life imprisonment in a drug trafficking case. Badshah Wazir, Saad Malik and Noman Jillani had been charged with trafficking 360 kilogrammes of heroin to the United Kingdom via sea by concealing the drugs in a consignment of PVC sanitary pipes on February 6, 2022.
The Special Court-II (CNS) judge sentenced Wazir, who was in custody, to rigorous imprisonment for life after founding him guilty of the offence. He was also ordered to pay a fine of Rs1 million. In case of default, the accused shall suffer an additional 10-month imprisonment.
The court, however, acquitted the other two accused of the charges by extending them the benefit of the doubt. It put the case against absconding accused Haji Saleemullah, Safdar Imran Michael and importer International Fulfillment Services Ltd, UK, on dormant file.
According to the prosecution, on February 6, 2022, the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) received a tip-off that international narcotics smugglers Saleemullah and Jillani through their special agent Wazir were to smuggle huge quantity of narcotics to London via sea by secretly concealing them in plastic sanitary pipes.
Upon examination of the container held at SAPT Karachi ANF Examination Area, heroin was found concealed in polythene sheet wrapped with a tape in sanitary plastic pipes. The recovered heroin weighed 360 kilogrammes.
In their statement, the accused denied the charges and claimed innocence. Wazir’s lawyer said his client was made a scapegoat in place of the actual offender, his employer, adding that he was a poor man who was serving as a gunman and driver. The accused travelled from Peshawar to Karachi where he was arrested by the ANF, the counsel said.
