Major drug haul at Kochi airport

Kochi: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has seized 19 kg of ephedrine worth over Rs 1  crore in the international market from the air cargo terminal of the Cochin International Airport Ltd, busting the attempts to smuggle out the banned substance to Malaysia. According to an NCB official, the sleuths acted on a tip-off from the Chennai headquarters and seized the drugs concealed in the cavities of big tea kettles on Thursday mid-night. “This is the second instance of our seizing  the drugs from the airport. We found it  abandoned and we are probing the case  using the CCTV images  to track the drug peddlers. We’ve received some leads,” said  Mr Venugopal G. Kurup, NCB superintendent, Kochi sub- zone.

The sleuths seized 18 kg of ephedrine and 600 grams of N-acetylanthranilic acid destined for Selangor, Malaysia. The drugs were concealed in the cavities of 10 tea kettles. Ephedrine is the most important precursor to manufacturing methamphetamine, a widely abused stimulant party drug. There is a huge demand for it in Malaysia for illegal manufacture of methamphetamine.

“We’ve noticed an increase in attempts to smuggle ephedrine through air cargo of various airports in  South India. Intense screening in major airports such as Chennai and Bengaluru has led to the smugglers choosing smaller airports like Kochi to push off their contraband,” the officer said. On August 2 last, the DRI officers had seized  55 kg of ephedrine from an aircraft at Kochi  airport. Though the  consignment was given security clearance, the officers acted on a tip-off and found the drugs  concealed inside a bag.