KOCHI: The excise department has put 56 persons in the state under surveillance on suspicion that they have been receiving drugs through courier services from abroad. The department is coordinating with the customs to collect information regarding the flow of drugs via courier firms from abroad.
The Foreign Post Office (FPO) in Kochi is one among five in India that come under the Office of Exchange category. Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and New Delhi are the others. The parcels and letters from abroad first land at the Office of Exchange where the customs unit scans them before sending them to 13 normal FPOs across India.
“We started receiving information from the customs regarding suspicious parcels arriving at the FPO in Kochi. We have received information about 56 persons suspected to be involved in receiving drugs from abroad through couriers and have put them under surveillance. They are frequently receiving courier parcels. As part of the joint effort, the excise department made the first drugs seizures from courier parcels at the FPO on Monday,” said B Tenymon, assistant commissioner, excise (enforcement).
Following the information from the customs, the department seized a parcel each that arrived at the FPO from Qatar and the Netherlands. The parcel from Qatar contained 26 LSD stamps. It was addressed to Fasallu of West Mankavu, Kozhikode. A case has been registered against Fasallu.
“We passed the information to our excise unit in Kozhikode which raided Fasallu’s house on Wednesday. The Kozhikode unit arrested Fasallu with 82 LSD stamps and 1.25kg of hashish oil. Small quantities of MDMA and cocaine were also found,” Tenymon said. The department found out that Fasallu, after procuring drugs through couriers, sold them in small quantities in India using the parcel service.
“We found that he had despatched a small quantity of MDMA to one Govind Raj of Mattanchery. We suspect the address is fake,” an official said. The second parcel containing LSD from the Netherlands that arrived at the FPO was addressed to Adithya, 23, of Malayinkeezhu in Thiruvananthapuram. “Five LSD stamps were seized from the parcel addressed to Adithya. He has been involved in drug cases before. He was brought to Kochi on Wednesday,” the official added.
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