Fruitful haul of party drugs in City

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Follow us:WhatsappFacebookTwitterTelegram.cls-1{fill:#4d4d4d;}.cls-2{fill:#fff;}Google NewsFor years now, there has been a standing joke amongst exporters that every time they send crates of packed fruits through air cargo, some of the boxes arrive at their destinations lighter. On Friday night, members of the air cargo intelligence unit were glad that loaders unwittingly dropped a box of pomegranates over, and realized that it was unnaturally heavy. Combined with a tip-off that smugglers had begun shipping drugs through the packing material in fruit cartons, officials rounded up the entire consignment and began stripping them bare.“We found that the black rexine packing material inside the crates held tightly packed polythene sachets of ketamine and pseudoephedrine, which are both internationally sought-after drugs,” said Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, Commissioner of Customs - Airport and Air Cargo.While 20 cartons placed on top had no drugs within, 60 cartons carried the popular party drugs. At noon, officials were still removing the sachets and weighing the drugs. Finally, it was announced that 480 pouches of drugs were found in 120 rexine packets.“In these packets, 25.115 kgs of ketamine and 34.761 kgs of pseudoephedrine were found. The value of these drugs abroad is estimated at Rs. 5.98 crore,” he added.The consignment was scheduled to be shipped to Malaysia through an Air India flight, said sources. Though two men have been brought in for questioning, the investigation is going on, customs sleuths said on Saturday night.first published:January 01, 1970, 05:30 ISTlast updated:January 01, 1970, 05:30 IST
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For years now, there has been a standing joke amongst exporters that every time they send crates of packed fruits through air cargo, some of the boxes arrive at their destinations lighter. On Friday night, members of the air cargo intelligence unit were glad that loaders unwittingly dropped a box of pomegranates over, and realized that it was unnaturally heavy. Combined with a tip-off that smugglers had begun shipping drugs through the packing material in fruit cartons, officials rounded up the entire consignment and began stripping them bare.

“We found that the black rexine packing material inside the crates held tightly packed polythene sachets of ketamine and pseudoephedrine, which are both internationally sought-after drugs,” said Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, Commissioner of Customs - Airport and Air Cargo.

While 20 cartons placed on top had no drugs within, 60 cartons carried the popular party drugs. At noon, officials were still removing the sachets and weighing the drugs. Finally, it was announced that 480 pouches of drugs were found in 120 rexine packets.

“In these packets, 25.115 kgs of ketamine and 34.761 kgs of pseudoephedrine were found. The value of these drugs abroad is estimated at Rs. 5.98 crore,” he added.

The consignment was scheduled to be shipped to Malaysia through an Air India flight, said sources. Though two men have been brought in for questioning, the investigation is going on, customs sleuths said on Saturday night.