With the enforcement agencies tightening the noose around narcotic smugglers through systematic baggage checks at airports, these traffickers have turned to new tactics to push contrabands. The recent incident in which a South African national was arrested for attempting to smuggle 4 kg of heroin, worth Rs 7 crore, and around 300g of Methamphetamine, worth Rs 1 crore, through a parcel agency to various destinations in Europe and Australia has blown the lid off the new trend.
According to official in the Customs, in the past as well there were instances of attempt to smuggle narcotic stuff through courier agencies. But this is first time, the officials have stumbled upon a huge quantity of heroin and Methamphetamine on parcel consignments.
The incident shows that drug traffickers are now ‘courting couriers’ since this method of sending consignment is comparatively risk-free and there is no fear of getting caught.
A senior official said drugs like ephedrine, a precursor to methamphetamine, popularly known as ice or crystal, can’t be detected through routine baggage screening. Hence, it is very easy for them to courier the stuff to target destination without being caught. The latest seizures including that of hashish and methamphetamine were based on intelligence inputs from Delhi.
Recently, Excise Special Squad at Aluva had seized 600g of ganja which was being sent to Dubai through a parcel service agency in Kochi. The contraband was seized from a private courier agency following a tip-off received by the officials. In another incident, the anti-narcotics special squad of the Excise wing had unearthed two consecutive cases of youths receiving Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) parcels from Goa. In both the cases, officials received tip-offs about the parcels from parents of the recipients.
Speaking to Kochi Express, senior Customs officials at Cochin Airport said if the passenger is an African national, the officials would double-check the baggage. This is because there has been a rise in incidents in which Africans have been caught acting as couriers to smuggle narcotics sourced from North Indian cities and neighbouring countries to various destinations in Africa and Europe.
Another officials with the Special Investigation and Intelligence Branch (SIIB) of Customs said the drug gets routed to Africa and European countries via Middle East. If the ‘courier’ is caught at the airports in Middle Eastern countries, the accused is promptly beheaded. There are instances in which innocent people have fallen prey to the designs of drug traffickers. Couriering the consignment will save them the need to employ drug mules and also the chances of packets being seized is small, he said.
Stung by the rising incidents, DGP Sen Kumar, recently urged all courier agencies through his official facebook account to install scanners to check the consignments and also warned them of being a party in the trade. He also warned the courier service operators against drug trafficking and directed them to cross check the identity of sender if they smell anything fishy.