In its continued crackdown on smuggling of Heroin into India, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) detained two containers on 13th September for examination that had arrived at Mundra Port from Kandhar, Afghanistan via Bandar Abbas, Iran. The containers were declared to contain Semi-processed Talc Stones. Detailed examination of the containers led to the seizure of 2988 kgs of heroin from the two containers on 17th and 19th September.

The heroin was concealed in jumbo bags said to contain unprocessed talc powder. The heroin was placed in the lower layers of the bags. The heroin was then topped with Talc stones to avoid detection. Resultantly, the heroin had to be painstakingly separated from the Talc Stones.

Immediate follow-up operations were carried out in New Delhi, Noida (UP), Chennai, Coimbatore, Ahmedabad, Mandvi, Gandhidham, and Vijaywada. This led to the recovery of 16.1 kgs of heroin from a Godown in Delhi, 10.2 kgs powder suspected to be cocaine, and 11 kgs of substance suspected to be heroin from a residential place in Noida.

A total of eight persons including four Afghan nationals, one Uzbek National, and three Indian nationals have been arrested in the case so far. The arrested Indian Nationals include the holder of the Import Export Code (IEC), which was used to import the consignment. He was arrested in Chennai. Investigations are in progress.

It is to be noted that Afghanistan’s opium harvest accounts for more than 80% of the world’s supply and this is the biggest drug bust estimated to be around Rs 21,000 crore.

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