Flight recalled, ketamine seized

Coimbatore: A Kuala Lumpur-bound flight was recalled after it had taken off from the city on Thursday and a passenger on board arrested for possession of 26.607 kg of ketamine hydrochloride, valued at more than Rs 2.5 crore in the international market.
Although there have been ketamine seizures at Chennai airport before, this is the first time Chennai-based drug smugglers tried to use Coimbatore airport.
Essentially a veterinary anaesthetic, ketamine cannot be exported without the government’s permission.
In India, a kilo of the substance, which is common among youth as a party drug, costs Rs 37,000. The passenger was travelling by flight MI- 0457 of Silk Airlines with a forged passport.
On examining his baggage, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence officers found 27 packets of detergent, idly and dosa powders.
Polythene bags containing a white granular substance were found within each of them. The passenger, who gave his name to the investigating officers as Ali of Tambaram, Chennai, admitted that he was carrying it on behalf of a Chennai-based person.
08/02/08 Gladwin Emmanuel

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Categories: airports Feb 2008, Foreign Feb 2008