Air Customs seizes Doha-bound hashish, meth and prescription drug worth Rs 5 crore; 2 arrested
CHENNAI: In a major haul of drugs, the Customs officials at Chennai airport seized 44 kg of hashish and 700 gm Meth crystals, totally worth Rs 5.1 crore, that was concealed inside digital weighing machines that were destined to Doha, Qatar. The exporter and a staff of the Customs house agent were arrested in connection with this.
Based on intelligence input, officers of Air Cargo Customs intercepted an export consignment of seven packages destined for Doha at air cargo export shed on the suspicion that they contained drugs. The shipping bill declared it to be 55 weighing machines.
When they examined the packages, the officers found the weighing scales to be unusually heavy. They opened all the machines and found that 52 of them had a specially designed metal box fixed by tape to the bottom of the scale. On opening the box, two pieces of dark brown material in cake form wrapped with plastic strips and sheets were found inside. The material tested positive for hashish.
In all, 44 kg of hashish, valued at Rs 4.4 crore, was recovered from 44 machines. This apart, two machines had 700 grams of methamphetamine crystals valued at Rs 70 lakhs, while six other machines had 1,620 grams of pregabalin capsules, a prescription drug used in anxiety disorder and fibromyalgia. It is a controlled drug in many countries, though it does not have such restriction in India.
The hashish and meth crystals valued at Rs 5.1 crore were seized under the NDPS Act.
Investigation revealed that the consignment was sent to Doha by an exporter, Sree Aalaya. Searches were carried out and the exporter was arrested. Also, a staff of the Customs house agent has also been arrested.