VIJAYAWADA: Investigators on an international drug trail inspected a city-based firm after a huge consignment of heroin--which officials claimed could be the largest ever haul in one bust--was confiscated at Gujarat’s Mundra port on Wednesday.
Officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) visited Aashi Trading Company here after the consignment, reported weighing 2,988.22 kilograms of the banned substance with an estimated street value of Rs 2,000 crore was seized. The consignment that reportedly originated from Afghanistan, and shipped to Gujarat from Bandar Abbas Port in Iran, was addressed to Aashi, located on Gadiyaramvari Street at Satyanarayanapuram in the city.
Reports said a specific tip-off helped DRI impound the drug. Heroin, weighing 2988.22 kilograms was mixed with talc stone powder, and packed in two containers. The role of Aashi Trading Company is being investigated.
The importers had declared that the consignment contained semi-processed talc stones from Afghanistan, being brought in via the Iranian port. Based on the input, officials inspected the containers and found 1,999.58 kilograms in one and 998.64 kilograms in the second. Two persons were arrested in the case.
Incidentally, the largest haul of heroin in recent times was reported from the Netherlands in February 2021, when officials in Rotterdam found 1,500 kilograms of the banned substance in a container holding Himalayan salt from Pakistan.
Confirming the development, State police sources said the DRI checked the firm’s business transactions. Personnel from the State police, too, accompanied the DRI sleuths. “We are verifying the details and activities of the company and other firms associated with it,” a senior police officer said.
DRI, state police inspect Aashi Trading Company
The impounded consignment of the banned substance was addressed to Vijayawada-based Aashi Trading Company. DRI found heroin in two containers that had arrived in Gujarat from Iran’s Bandar Abbas Port