Mumbai: The Indian intelligence agencies are spending sleepless nights as it is believed that India's most wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim and Al Qaida-controlled terror outfit Boko Haram have joined hands to smuggle drugs in the country.
Dawood's younger brother Anees Ibrahim had recently visited Lagos in Nigeria and met Boko Haram chief Abubukar Shkau, intelligence inputs indicated.
Boko Haram, meaning ‘western education is a sin', is a militant Islamist organization based in northern Nigeria. The outfit, founded by Mohammed Yusuf in 2002, seeks to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria. The terror organization had recently kidnapped nearly 300 girls in an attempt to sell them into flesh trade.
Last year, the US Department of State had designated the group as a terrorist organisation.
The intelligence inputs claimed that Boko Haram wants to develop a powerful network in India in order to target the lucrative drug market and for this, the terror outfit is exploring all possible ways get it connected with the D-gang, which has well-established network in the country.
A senior police official here said that the terror group needs money to sustain itself and by joining hands with the D-gang, it can easily make money by smuggling drugs.
If reports are to be believed, Boko Haram is planning to set up several drug cartels across the country with the help of the D-gang.
Another police official said that instead of using his own men in India, Dawood will use Boko Haram members to smuggle drugs. Dawood's gang is under constant watch of Indian security agencies and hence it is difficult for them to directly smuggle drugs here.
A few years ago, there were reports that Dawood is getting huge quantities of drugs from the Al Qaida for exchange of sophisticated arms and ammunition.
According to data available with police, as of now there are (approx) 2,000 Nigerian peddlers active in the country.
The deal between Dawood's D-gang and Boko Haram was stuck a few months ago.
