BENGALURU: The Bengaluru Customs officials have seized 2.575 kg of drugs worth `1.23 crore in separate cases over the last two days at the Foreign Post Office (FPO) at Chamarajpet and at the cargo section of the Kempegowda International Airport. A big seizure was effected at the FPO on Thursday where MDMA (3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine, commonly known as Molly or Ecstasy) pills, weighing 2.345 kg, were recovered from a foot massager which had arrived from a fictitious city in France to a fictitious name and address in Bengaluru. The seized MDMA pills are valued at Rs 1.2 crore in the international market.
This is the first time that drugs have been sent through a foot massager through the Post Office. A similar incident was reported in the cargo section of the airport three months ago, an official said.A senior Customs official told The New Indian Express that the details on the parcel raised suspicion.
“The drug was packaged in a foot massager box with the heading ‘Foot Massaging Machine’. But the value of the product was shown as $5. We sensed something was amiss and suspected it to have contraband material.
An X-ray scan showed only the outer casing of the foot massager,” the official said. “We dismantled the massager and found that it had packets of the drug concealed inside. The consignment was from ‘Villa Rancy’ city in France to a person named ‘Dan’ in Bengaluru, both of which are fictitious,” another official said.
Biggest drug haul at FPO after it shifted to new venue
“It remains unclear how they hoped to collect the parcel. We have come across many such cases in the past and are closing in on the intended recipient,” the official added. This is the biggest seizure made in the FPO after it shifted to its new location nearly a year ago. It used to function within the premises of the GPO earlier. An official release from the City Customs Commissionerate said the drugs have been seized under the NDPS Act, 1985, and the Customs Act, 1962.