Mumbai: In another case revealing the use of courier services to smuggle drugs, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Monday seized heroin worth Rs 1.50 crore from a parcel at the international courier hub in Andheri.
According to the DRI, they received information regarding banned narcotics being smuggled through an international courier parcel coming from Ladysmith, South Africa, and destined to Vikhroli.
Subsequently, the parcel was detected at the courier hub.
“On opening the said consignment, it was found to contain baby clothes and two stainless steel flasks. During the course of examination of the said consignment, the bottom of steel flasks appeared tampered with.
The flasks were then cut open by the officers of the DRI and a concealment of off-white powdery substance was found between the inner and outer walls of flasks,” said a high-ranking DRI officer.
“From those flasks, a total of 497 grams of off-white powdery substance was recovered. The recovered substance was then tested and it was confirmed to be heroin. The consignment, having a value of around Rs 1.5 crore in the illicit market, was thereafter seized under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.”
The agency is investigating about the sender and recipient.
Heroin is a narcotic drug classified as a depressant, which can be significantly harmful to the human body even in extremely small quantities.
Its possession, sale, inter and intra-state transport is banned under NDPS Act.
Violation of the NDPS Act for is punishable to up to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of 2 lakhs. In certain cases, the crime can even lead up to a death penalty.
The new challenge faced by the enforcement agencies is the involvement of international drug syndicates in smuggling heroin in India.
The syndicates have been active on a massive scale during the pandemic, which can be derived from a large number of seizures by the DRI.
Sources said that the surge in demand will automatically attract trafficking and hence efforts are on to detect such cases.
Due to the holiday season in the month of December, with new-year parties across the country, this time is feared as the start of the drug-peddling season.
