Heroin worth Rs 1.5cr seized from Sri Lankan national

Chennai: After a brief interval, the air intelligence unit of Chennai customs has once again seized drug consignment on Friday night - heroin worth Rs. 1.5 crore was seized from a Sri Lankan national. Customs officials arrested Baladeepan alias Balasingam (25), a native of Jaffna, after he was found carrying 1.576 kg heroin in seven polythene packets concealed inside a Yamaha keyboard.
"The person was caught by the intelligence officials as they were profiling passengers at the airport. The youth was about to board a Sri Lankan flight at about 8.30 pm. His behaviour raised doubts in the officials. They took him in for questioning and recalled his checked-in baggage," Parminder Singh Sodhi, commissioner, customs, told The Times Of India.
Baladeepan was staying with his wife in Chennai for the past two years. His parents are still in Jaffna.
Customs department officials said that the heroin which seemed to have been sourced locally was of high quality. Baladeepan had cleverly concealed the heroin in seven packets sealed with adhesive. The packets were hiddden in the hollow portion of the keyboard. According to Q-branch sources, Baladeepan would visit Sri Lanka frequently. According to sources, Baladeepan was staying in Mannadi. A person who had befriended Baladeepan in Mannadi gave him the keyboard at Kathipara junction as he was on his way to the airport on Friday.
Sources told TOI that Mannadi in North Chennai has turned out to be a hub for nefarious activity. In the current financial year, Chennai airport customs have seized heroin worth more than Rs 11 crore in the international market, as well as other smuggled goods worth Rs. 14 crore.
25/01/09 Times of India

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Categories: Airports Jan 2009, Foreign Jan 2009