Hyderabad: Two parcels containing 14.2 kilograms of the pseudoephedrine drug were seized by officials from the city police and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) from an international courier agency in Begumpet. The banned substance were concealed in photo frames which were being reportedly transported in cardboard boxes to Australia.
According to Hyderabad police commissioner Anjanai Kumar, the drugs were seized after officials received specific intelligence that certain banned substances were being concealed in parcels destined for Australia at an international courier agency called United Express.
On close examination, the cops found parcel boxes containing photo frames and other products. However, the consignment also had a plastic cover containing white powder like substance sandwiched between the 2 layers of the photo frames. “This substance tested positive for Pseudoephedrine, a controlled substance under the NDPS Act 1985,” said a statement from the Hyderabad police.
After the bust, a total of 22 such photo frames were found in these 2 parcels, with each parcel containing 11 photo frames, the police stated. The total quantity of 14.2 kg of pseudoephedrine has been retrieved from these photo frames and preliminary investigations have revealed that the consignments were allegedly booked using fraudulent Aadhar cards having Hyderabad address by two persons, possibly from Tamil Nadu.
The black market value of the drug is around Rs 40 lakh and the total worth of this particular seizure is around approximately Rs 5.5 crore. “This is in continuation to a series of more than 15 cases involving 300+ kg of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine consignments destined to Australia by courier, air and sea cargo,detected by DRI Hyderabad in the past one year at various locations including Chennai, Delhi and Bengaluru,” added the statement.