PTI; Kolkata, July 9 : The West Bengal CID has identified some linkmen in different metro cities, who helped the five Chinese nationals arrested with drugs here last week, a senior official said today.
The Chinese nationals were arrested outside Kolkata railway station on June 30, after the GRP seized 197 kg of 'party drug' amphetamine, worth Rs 40 crore. Mobile phones, a laptop, Chinese currency and train tickets were also seized from them.
The CID sleuths were quizzing the five accused to know how they learnt about the linkmen in India, the official said.
"Our investigation has revealed that these linkmen are located in different metropolis of India, including New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad. They helped these Chinese nationals in moving around in the country," he told PTI.
With the help of these linkmen, two of the arrested five had visited Darjeeling before going to Beldanga in Murshidabad district, the official said.
The state CID had also conducted a raid at a closed factory in Beldanga recently and seized another 1.9 kg of amphetamine tablets.
"It seems that these Chinese nationals were in touch with many people. We have to verify their claims. Our officers are working on the information gathered from them," the official said.
The arrested Chinese nationals have been identified as Wang Xiao Dong, Xue Yonghui, Li Cheng, Cheng Hao, Liu Baoxian - aged between 30 and 37 years.
"It is quite difficult to talk to them because they hardly speak English. Only Dong can speak a little bit of English but others converse in provincial Chinese dialects," he said, adding the CID sleuths have been taking the held of interpreters to quiz the five accused.
Preliminary probe has revealed that the five accused had hired a vehicle while travelling across West Bengal, the official said.
Asked about their hideouts in the state or in other parts of the country, the CID officer said, "According to the information we have gathered, they were not staying at one particular place. We think they had taken shelter somewhere in the districts bordering Bihar or Jharkhand, where the five had some local links."
The Chinese nationals had been frequently visiting India since 2016.
"They had been visiting New Delhi, Mumbai and various other cities since 2016. It seems they had also started visiting smaller cities like Aurangabad, Allahabad, Gwalior among others.
"We need to find out who they met during their visits to these places, who they have been working with and who are the takers of these drugs," the IPS officer said.
On whether they were part of an international drug racket, he said, "There is a high possibility, but we need to verify that. There are linkmen working from across the border in Nepal as well as in Bangladesh. We are trying to verify whether these five have links to them."
Amphetamine tablets, like cocaine are known to be stimulants, and the drug is gaining popularity in India.
"These tablets are used at rave parties. In the 1970s disco scene, the drugs of choice shifted to stimulant cocaine and amphetamine tablets. At present, they are in high demand in India, mostly in the eastern part," an officer at the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) said.
