New Delhi: Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized more than 1.11 lakh bottles of Codeine cough syrup in two separate operations in Tripura and West Bengal. Officials also arrested one person under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.
The first operation took place on July 2 after DRI officers intercepted a consignment in the parcel van of a train bound for Agartala. Officials found 55,626 bottles concealed inside 80 metallic drums beneath a layer of powder used as cover cargo. The Railway Protection Force and Assam Rifles assisted in the operation. Officers arrested a man who allegedly arrived to collect the consignment.
Codeine cough syrup hidden inside iron drums
In a separate operation, DRI officers searched a warehouse at Dankuni in West Bengal. They recovered 56,225 bottles concealed inside 104 sealed iron drums beneath a layer of china clay powder. Officials seized the entire consignment under the NDPS Act.
The DRI said codeine has legitimate medical use in regulated pharmaceutical products. However, traffickers frequently divert codeine-based cough syrups for illegal consumption because of their abuse potential.
Furthermore, the agency said the seizures exposed the methods used by organised smuggling networks to conceal narcotic substances. It added that intelligence-driven operations would continue to target and dismantle such trafficking networks.
