Heroin worth nearly Rs 300 cr disposed of

Nearly 300 kg of heroin has been disposed of by the Customs Preventive department here, a quantity which is said to be one of the highest to be destroyed in the present decade.

Nearly 300 kg of heroin has been disposed of by the Customs Preventive department here, a quantity which is said to be one of the highest to be destroyed in the present decade.

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Customs sources said that the department had disposed of the contraband in a factory on the GT Karnal road on Wednesday.

"295 kg of heroin was disposed of by way of incineration at a factory in Rajasthan Udyog Vihar on the G T Karnal Road under special supervision," a senior official said.

He said the drugs pertained to 11 cases cracked by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence during the period of 1995-1998.

The present value of the contraband in similar quantity stands at nearly Rs 300 crore in the international market.

The heroin packed in 15 steel boxes were taken to the factory under heavy security where it was thrown into a burning furnace.

"The chimney was a special one since it came fitted with a filter which first vetted out the harmful smoke before letting the rest out," the officer said when asked about environmental repercussions of burning such large quantity of heroin, a deadly and highly addictive narcotic drug.

Sources said that the office has still over 1,000 kg of the contraband under its custody but chose to dispose of only 295 kg because the court cases pertaining to the seized drug has been closed.

The contraband which was disposed of were of high quality and were said to be Afghan heroin.

Officials said that the only time in the recent past when drugs of this high quantity was disposed of was in 1998 when a little over 400 kg was burnt away.