The NCB on Saturday busted yet another international narcotic smuggling racket, seizing a drugs consignment bound for Australia. Following a tipoff, the Narcotic Control Bureau team led by Amit Ghawate, seized around 3 kg of white-colored crystalline substance worth crores in Bengaluru. The white coloured substance seized is believed to be pseudoephedrine, the sale of which is banned in India.
Speaking to reporters, officials said that the Australia-bound consignment was hidden in three lehengas. As per the reports of NDTV, the parcel was booked from Andhra Pradesh’s Narasapuram. During the investigation, officials found that the accused, a Chennai resident used fake documents to send the parcel. He has been taken into custody, police said.
Earlier this month, a similar incident was reported when the NCB had seized a drugs consignment from Hyderabad bound for Australia via Mumbai. “The contraband has been seized in Andheri… around 4.60 kg of ephedrine, which was sourced from Hyderabad. It was intended to be smuggled to Australia via Mumbai,” NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede had said.
The NCB, following a tip-off they received, in a swift follow-up action the consignor of the drugs was identified to be at Chennai. NCB Chennai team apprehended the consignor after 2 days of prolonged field surveillance. The consignor had used fake addresses and documents to conceal his identity, the officials added further.
In another operation, based on another tip-off on Saturday, officials of NCB’s Bengaluru Zonal Unit intercepted a car of Andhra Pradesh registration at Devanahalli toll in Bengaluru and apprehended four persons after seizing commercial quantities of MDMA pills, methamphetamine, and methaqualone.
The officials identified that one of them was from Vizag, and the rest three were from Bihar. They were traveling towards Hyderabad from Bengaluru.
During further investigation, the supplier’s premises were identified and a search was conducted which led to the seizure of a small quantity of high-grade ganja. One more person was apprehended from the premises. The syndicate was engaged in procuring a variety of drugs from suppliers in Bengaluru and sold them to various youths, parties, and pubs in Hyderabad.
Commonly known as ecstasy, more than 10 grams of MDMA was seized, said officials. It is commonly abused as a party drug. The side effects of the drug are also very dangerous to the human body. Continued usage can lead to heart problems including heart attack, memory lapses, hallucinations, seizures, etc.