DRI seizes heroin worth Rs434 crore

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has seized heroin consignments valued at Rs. 434 crore in the illicit market from the air cargo complex in New Delhi and from Punjab and Haryana in a major operation, DRI said in a statement. 

The seized narcotic drug consignments weigh 62 kilo grams. “This is one of the biggest seizures of heroin till date through courier/cargo/air passenger modes in India,” DRI said in a statement. 

The seizure of 55 kilogram of heroin from an imported cargo consignment in New Delhi was made on Tuesday. The cargo consignment, declared to contain “trolley bags” originated from Entebbe in Uganda and arrived at the Air Cargo Complex at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in the national capital via Dubai. 

Swift follow up operations in Punjab and Haryana led to recovery of yet another seven kilogram of heroin and Rs. 50 Lakh in cash, the statement said.

While the import consignment had 330 trolley bags, the seized Heroin was found to have been ingeniously concealed inside the hollow metal tubes of 126 trolley bags. The concealment was extremely difficult to detect, DRI said.

DRI officers have apprehended the importer of the consignment and other suspects are being interrogated. Further investigations are underway.

Year 2021 witnessed substantial seizure of heroin across the country by the DRI, the statement said. More than 3,300 kilogram of heroin was seized during 2021. Since January 2022, DRI has made significant seizure of heroin including 34 kg from a container at Tughlaquabad in New Delhi, 205 kg from a container at Kandla port and 392 kg of yarn laced with heroin at Pipavav port. In the last three months, multiple cases have also been booked, leading to seizure of more than 60 kg heroin from air passengers, DRI stated.