Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Drug racket busted

Thiruvananthapuram: Sleuths of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) have busted a racket involved in smuggling of Ketamine hydrochloride, an anaesthetic abused by youth as a “club drug,” to South East Asia.

The DRI arrested Jayaveeran of Tiruchi and Shahul Hameed of Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu in connection with the seizure of 12 kg. of drug valued at over Rs.1 crore in the international market. The modus operandi employed to smuggle the drug has surprised the DRI and Narcotics Control Bureau.

Acting on a tip-off, the duo was intercepted by DRI sleuths at the Thiruvananthapuram international airport on Friday when they came to board a Sri Lankan Airlines flight to Colombo. The inspection and X-ray examination of the baggage of Jayaveeran and Shahul Hameed did not yield anything. On suspicion, the sleuths dismantled one of the four tea dispensers being carried by the duo. DRI sources said the drug was found concealed in the dispenser. They had checked in for proceeding to Kuala Lumpur via Colombo.

“The two seem to be carriers and are new to smuggling of drugs. We have begun investigations to find from where the drugs were procured and to track those behind the cartel,” DRI sources said.

In May, the DRI had seized 25 kg of Ketamine hydrochloride from the baggage of Shahul Hameed, a resident of Shivaganga district in Tamil Nadu. He was caught while trying to board a Silk Air flight from Kochi bound for Singapore en route Kuala Lumpur.

Nearly 20.5 kg of the drug concealed in packets of flour and oats was seized from one Muhammed Ali Jinnah, a resident of Tamil Nadu, in March 2006. In another incident, the DRI sleuths seized 80 kg of the drug from the airport. But, the two who tried to smuggle the drug escaped from the terminal building after taking the boarding pass.

The drug, which is often used as an anaesthetic, is easily available in the country, as it is not covered under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Hence, the sentence for smuggling Ketamine is also less compared to other drugs.

DRI sources said the drug is mainly smuggled to South East Asian countries like Malaysia.

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