New Delhi, October 4: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has seized 15.59 kg of amphetamine, cocaine and heroin and arrested five people in three operations in Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Punjab, the Ministry of Finance said on Sunday. The seizures were made on 29 and 30 September, and the arrests were made under the NDPS Act, 1985.
Amphetamine in a spare tyre after 90-minute chase
On 30 September, DRI and the Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN) tried to stop a Mahindra Thar at the Ujjain–Dewas toll plaza in Madhya Pradesh on suspicion that it was carrying amphetamine. The driver broke through the barricade and drove off.
Officers chased the vehicle for about one and a half hours before stopping it near Bicholi Mardana in Indore. Inside the spare tyre they found 21 packets holding 7.116 kg (gross) of a whitish-yellow crystalline substance that tested positive for amphetamine. All three people in the car were arrested.
Cocaine capsules in chocolate tubes at Hyderabad airport
On 29 September, acting on specific intelligence, DRI officers stopped an Indian passenger who had arrived from Doha at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad. His baggage held seven chocolate tubes that were heavier than their marked weight. Hidden among the chocolates were 207 light-yellow oval capsules, which tested positive for cocaine. A total of 4.9 kg was seized and the passenger was arrested.
Heroin in a backpack near Jalandhar
The same day, DRI officers kept watch near Phillaur, on the outskirts of Jalandhar in Punjab. Near the Sutlej river bridge they identified a suspect travelling as a passenger in a rented car-pooling taxi. A search of his blue backpack turned up three packets containing 3.574 kg of heroin, and he was arrested.
The ministry said the three cases showed the DRI’s intelligence-led approach to tracking different trafficking routes and new ways of hiding drugs.
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