BSF SEIZES 1,000 COUGH SYRUP BOTTLES

Malda, Sept. 3: Border Security Force (BSF) personnel have seized 1,000 codeinebased cough syrup bottles while they were being smuggled into Bangladesh through Ganga in West Bengal’s Malda district, an officer of the paramilitary force said on Thursday.

Acting on a tip-off, BSF personnel posted at Shobhapur border outpost increased vigil and found a package floating in the river and drifting towards Bangladesh on Wednesday, he said, adding a team set out on a speed boat and seized it.

A total of 1,000 cough syrup bottles, worth `1.69 lakh, and a mobile phone were found in the package, which was kept afloat with the help of thermocol, the officer said.

India-based smugglers float such packages in Ganga by strategically placing a mobile phone on top and as it drifts closer to Bangladesh, they start calling the number, causing the mobile phone’s light to flash, thus alerting their counterparts waiting for the goods in the neighbouring country, he said.

Codeine-based cough syrups are used as intoxicants in Bangladesh, where consumption of liquor is banned.