Chandigarh, July 30 (IANS) Three people, including two foreigners, were Saturday sentenced by a court here to 16 years in prison for their involvement in drug smuggling and peddling.
Israeli national Lior Avi Den Moyal, Czech national Jiri Andreev and Narender Kumar, a resident of Kullu town in Himachal Pradesh, were sentenced to 16 years in prison by Additional District and Sessions Judge Lalit Batra.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs.400,000 each on them.
All the three were arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) here in February 2005 following a tip-off that they were going to deliver a consignment of drugs.
Nearly 155 kg of charas (cannabis), valued over Rs.20 crore, was recovered from them when they were caught in Chandigarh’s industrial area, NCB officials said.
‘Moyal was the mastermind of the drugs racket and they were planning to send the contraband abroad by concealing it in furniture,’ prosecution lawyer Kailash Chander said.
Moyal, a few weeks after his arrest, managed to escape from the NCB custody. However, a lawyer recognised him near Panjab University campus and helped police nab him.
