CHENNAI: Customs officials at the airport here have foiled a bid to smuggle ecstasy pills from the Netherlands through parcel service and arrested the consignee from Andhra Pradesh, a top official said on Wednesday.
The pills, numbering 400 and worth Rs 12 lakh, sent from Haarlem city were recovered at the Foreign Post Office here.
Initial investigations revealed the pills were methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA), which on consuming alters mood similar to stimulants producing feelings of increased energy and pleasure, Customs Commissioner Rajan Chaudhary said in a statement.
The pills contained more than 470 gms of MDMA and the parcel was addressed to a 27-year old man hailing from Bhimavaram in West Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh.
He was brought to the city and on questioning confessed that he had booked the parcel online making payments through 'Bitcoin' a Crypto currency, the release said.
A dosage of the ecstasy pill above 120 gm can be fatal, the release said, adding the man was produced before a magistrate who remanded him to judicial custody.