Continuing its sustained efforts to curb drug trafficking and dismantle narcotics supply networks, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has seized over 1.11 lakh bottles of Codeine-based cough syrup in two separate intelligence-led operations conducted in Tripura and West Bengal under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.
In the first operation, carried out recently, DRI officers intercepted a consignment being transported in the parcel van of a train bound for Agartala. During examination, the contraband was found ingeniously concealed inside 80 metallic drums, hidden beneath a layer of powdery substance used as cover cargo. A total of 55,626 bottles of Codeine-based cough syrup were recovered and seized.
The operation was conducted with the assistance of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the Assam Rifles. One person, who had arrived to take delivery of the consignment, was apprehended and arrested under the provisions of the NDPS Act, 1985.
In another operation conducted around the same period, DRI officers searched a warehouse at Dankuni, West Bengal, where 56,225 bottles of Codeine-based cough syrup were recovered from 104 sealed iron drums. The bottles had been concealed beneath a layer of China clay powder inside the drums in an apparent attempt to evade detection. The entire quantity was seized under the relevant provisions of the NDPS Act, 1985.
Collectively, the two operations resulted in the seizure of 1,11,851 bottles of Codeine-based cough syrup and the arrest of one person. Codeine, a derivative of opium, has legitimate therapeutic use in regulated pharmaceutical formulations. However, Codeine-based cough syrups are frequently targeted by drug trafficking networks due to their potential for abuse when diverted for illicit consumption.
These seizures reveal the persistent attempts by organised smuggling syndicates to divert pharmaceutical preparations containing narcotic substances through sophisticated concealment techniques. DRI's has renewed its focus on intelligence-driven enforcement and inter-agency coordination to identify, disrupt, and dismantle narcotics trafficking networks. |