Anti-Narcotics: 7 accused arrested over illegal ephedrine usage
The accused include brother of former PML-N MNA Haneef Abbasi.
The accused include brother of former PML-N MNA Haneef Abbasi. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) arrested seven accused, including the brother of former Member National Assembly (MNA) Hanif Abbasi, in the Ephedrine quota case on Thursday, after the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court rejected their bail pleas.
Abbasi is booked in the Ephedrine case on charges of allegedly misusing 500 kilogrammes of Ephedrine after he had procured the controlled chemical through his company, Grace Pharma, to produce medicines.
On Thursday, a two-member bench of the high court, comprising Justice Ijaz Ahmed and Justice Farrukh Irfan, rejected the bail applications of the suspects, according to ANF officials.
The ANF personnel then arrested Basit Abbasi, brother of MNA Abbasi, and six others who were identified as Ahmed Bilal, Chaudhry Muhammad Rafiq, Asif Chaudhry, Hamid Raza, Sirajuddin and Abuzar Faizi.
Basit Abbasi and Bilal are linked with Grace Pharma, Abbasi’s company. Rafiq and Raza are connected with Neutro Pharma, according to court record, while Faizi and Sirajuddin are owner and partner respectively at Genome Pharma. Chaudhry is the owner of Raymond Pharma.
All seven people arrested are accused of misusing a separate 500-kilo quota of the chemical, a source close to the case said.
The source said ANF had submitted a challan of the seven suspects in the Control of Narcotics Substances Court (CNSC) on Wednesday but the suspects had moved the high court with their bail applications.
Three other suspects - Abdur Rehman, Abdul Waseh and Muhammad Sajid - are already in jail and their bail pleas were also refused, ANF officials said.
The ANF had registered a case against Abbasi, the former Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz MNA, in June 2012 for his alleged involvement in the misuse of the Ephedrine quota. Abbasi was granted bail by the high court, however, and the next hearing of his case in the CNSC is on September 27.
The Ephedrine scandal came to the limelight in the first half of 2012 when the ANF claimed that Ali Musa Gilani, the son of former premier Yousaf Raza Gilani, and Makhdoom Shahabuddin, former Pakistan Peoples Party MNA, were allegedly involved in allocating ephedrine to two pharmaceutical companies in excess of international limits. Cases had been registered against the two companies as early as October 2011.
Cases regarding the involvement of both Gilani and Shahabuddin are also currently being heard by the CNSC.
Ephedrine, usually used to manufacture medicines for decongestion, is also a precursor drug for making methamphetamine, an addictive and illegal stimulant drug.
Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) arrested seven accused, including the brother of former Member National Assembly (MNA) Hanif Abbasi, in the Ephedrine quota case on Thursday, after the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court rejected their bail pleas.
Abbasi is booked in the Ephedrine case on charges of allegedly misusing 500 kilogrammes of Ephedrine after he had procured the controlled chemical through his company, Grace Pharma, to produce medicines.
On Thursday, a two-member bench of the high court, comprising Justice Ijaz Ahmed and Justice Farrukh Irfan, rejected the bail applications of the suspects, according to ANF officials.
The ANF personnel then arrested Basit Abbasi, brother of MNA Abbasi, and six others who were identified as Ahmed Bilal, Chaudhry Muhammad Rafiq, Asif Chaudhry, Hamid Raza, Sirajuddin and Abuzar Faizi.
Basit Abbasi and Bilal are linked with Grace Pharma, Abbasi’s company. Rafiq and Raza are connected with Neutro Pharma, according to court record, while Faizi and Sirajuddin are owner and partner respectively at Genome Pharma. Chaudhry is the owner of Raymond Pharma.
All seven people arrested are accused of misusing a separate 500-kilo quota of the chemical, a source close to the case said.
The source said ANF had submitted a challan of the seven suspects in the Control of Narcotics Substances Court (CNSC) on Wednesday but the suspects had moved the high court with their bail applications.
Three other suspects - Abdur Rehman, Abdul Waseh and Muhammad Sajid - are already in jail and their bail pleas were also refused, ANF officials said.
The ANF had registered a case against Abbasi, the former Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz MNA, in June 2012 for his alleged involvement in the misuse of the Ephedrine quota. Abbasi was granted bail by the high court, however, and the next hearing of his case in the CNSC is on September 27.
The Ephedrine scandal came to the limelight in the first half of 2012 when the ANF claimed that Ali Musa Gilani, the son of former premier Yousaf Raza Gilani, and Makhdoom Shahabuddin, former Pakistan Peoples Party MNA, were allegedly involved in allocating ephedrine to two pharmaceutical companies in excess of international limits. Cases had been registered against the two companies as early as October 2011.
Cases regarding the involvement of both Gilani and Shahabuddin are also currently being heard by the CNSC.
Ephedrine, usually used to manufacture medicines for decongestion, is also a precursor drug for making methamphetamine, an addictive and illegal stimulant drug.