Ketamine worth Rs 1 cr confiscated

It was a beautifully crafted two-and-a-half-feet wooden elephant. And it looked innocuous even for the customs sleuths at the Coimbatore airport. But inside its belly lay 10 kg of ketamine hydrochloride, a veterinary drug widely used in rave parties, and worth Rs 1 crore in the international market.
As "strange reflections" emerged from the elephant's belly during screening, customs department officers swooped down on the passenger with the wooden doll, headed for Kuala Lumpur by Sri Lankan Airlines on Saturday.
Investigations revealed four packets of ketamine weighing 10 kg. Ketamine is a crystallic component used in anaesthetic drugs but is now increasingly smuggled to European countries from India for being used at rave parties for its dope effect.
Though it is not a banned drug, ketamine cannot be carried by any passenger without a ‘no objection' certificate from the Narcotics Commissioner, Gwalior. The ketamine white crystals cost just Rs 35,000 per kilo in the Indian market, but sell for Rs 10 lakh per kg in the international market. "Because of the huge price differential, they are being smuggled across the borders," a customs officer said.
28/04/08 Times of India

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Categories: Airports Apr 2008