DRI seizes methaqualone worth Rs 2.35 crore

Kolkata: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized a huge quantity of methaqualone, a narcotic substance that costs around Rs 2.35 crore in the international market.

Two persons were arrested in this connection and they were produced before Barasat Court. Acting on a tip-off, DRI officers conducted a raid and arrested two persons from near the International Departure gate of Kolkata Airport.

The consignment was sent from Chennai. A metal box was parceled from Chennai. It reached Howrah Station on Chennai Mail and was collected by a person from the station. The same person passed the consignment to his counterpart, who was supposed to take it to Kuala Lumpur.

The officers searched the box and found some garments in it. Later, they realised that the sides of the box were thicker than usual and found that eight packets containing 4.7 kg of methaqualone were concealed along the width of the box.

In another development, the DRI officers have arrested one person from New Jalpaiguri Railway Station in North Bengal, when he was carrying gold that was brought from Myanmar. Firoz Seikh, who was arrested, is a resident of North 24-Parganas. Gold weighing around 2 kg was found from him, worth around Rs 63.27 lakh.

The gold bars were smuggled from Myanmar through Moreh in Manipur, investigation revealed. One more person was arrested in Manipur on similar charges.

It may be mentioned that in the 2017-18 fiscal, DRI has seized around 430 kg of gold and gold jewellery from the East and North-East regions, which is worth more than Rs 110 crore.