CHENNAI: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Thursday said it has busted two major cases of drugs being trafficked into Chennai from foreign countries.
In the first case, NCB officers seized 1.8 kg cocaine from a Bolivian passenger who arrived at the Chennai airport on May 9. The cocaine was concealed inside the woollen jacket of the passenger, NCB said.
The follow up of the case led the central agency to Mumbai, where two women- a Brazilian and an Indian- were arrested and 15 gm of cocaine was recovered from the house of the accused.
In the second case, NCB collaborated with Chennai Customs Postal Appraising Department (PAD) to seize a parcel containing 1.4 kg of Ecstasy (MDMA) tablets which were couriered from the Netherlands.
Investigations led them to Pondicherry and Bengaluru, where two Nigerians who were identified as the receivers of the contraband were arrested.
There have been multiple cases of both these drugs landing in Chennai from foreign countries. On April 23 and 24, Customs and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized 1 kg and 3.5 kg of cocaine from two Indians who had landed from Africa and Malaysia respectively.
Ecstasy pills, which are popular on the European rave circuits, have been regularly seized by the Customs PAD intelligence wing for more than five years. They are usually smuggled from the Netherlands and Belgium. The pills come in different sizes and colours like blue, green and orange; officials have warned that they might cause overdose and result in death of abusers, based on published cases in European countries.