CHENNAI: Twelve persons involved in smuggling of drugs into the country without registration certificate and import licence were remanded to 15 days judicial custody by a CBI special court.
CBI sources told Express that of the 12, four were importers of the drug from China while the rest are custom house agents. They include Ramlal Jain, proprietor of M/s. Kawarlal& Co, and Kawarlal & Sons, Chennai, Sohan Chand proprietor of M/s Antonie & Becourel Organic Co., Chennai, Sachiv V Jain, proprietor of Excipient and Sanjay Thanvi, proprietor Howitzer Organic Chennai.
This comes after Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), Chennai, detected cases of drugs import from unregistered sources from China. The cases were handed over to CBI for investigations.
Drug imports are only allowed by companies whose manufacturing units are registered with the Indian drug regulator. Sources said their modus operandi was to label the drugs as chemicals, which does not undergo the stringent checks for drug consignments.
It is learnt that the four proprietors have smuggled 425 varieties of drugs from 2011 to 2012. The worth of the smuggled drugs is yet to be ascertained.
For Registration Certificates, a manufacturer abroad or his agent here is required to apply to the office of Drug Controller General (India) in Form-40 with specified fees which could be a minimum of $1,500 besides power of attorney in favour of the agent in India and the information and undertakings as specified in Schedule D(I) and D(II) of the said Rules duly signed by or on behalf of the manufacturer. Thereafter, the importer is required to obtain the import licence from the said authority.
Held in Malaysia
Meanwhile, PTI reported that an Indian has been arrested at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport for allegedly carrying 5.34 kilogrammes of illegal drugs worth $2,88,155. The 27-year-old, who arrived here from Chennai by a Malaysia Airlines flight, landed in Customs Department’s net upon his arrival at the airport.
“He was arrested after being found with a crystal-like substance which tested positive for Methamphetamine,” Customs Department’s director Datuk Chik Omar Chik Lim was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times. The man’s identity was not disclosed.
“A thorough examination of his hand luggage revealed several packages containing the drugs that were hidden in a secret compartment,” he said.x