Customs seize party drug worth Rs. 50 lakh

The Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of Mumbai Customs on Saturday seized 5kg ketamine hydrochloride worth Rs50 lakh from a Chennai-based man.

The Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of Mumbai Customs on Saturday seized 5kg ketamine hydrochloride worth Rs. 50 lakh from a Chennai-based man.

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He was trying to smuggle the party drug to Malaysia.

This is the 14th such seizure by Customs in the last four months. An AIU batch headed by deputy commissioner of Customs Sameer Wankhede intercepted Abdul Latif Shamshuddin, 38, at the boarding gate of Malaysia Airlines flight MH 195 on Friday night, headed for Kuala Lumpur. He had checked in the bag in which he had concealed the drug.

When the AIU checked the bag, officials found that special sides had been made, in which the courier had hidden the powder. Officials then sent the powder for chemical testing.

On Saturday, it was confirmed that the powder was ketamine following which Shamshuddin was arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

Shamshuddin said that a man in Chennai had given him the bag. He was to take it from Kuala Lumpur to Johor Bahru in Malaysia and was paid Rs. 50,000 and 1,200 Ringgits (Rs. 21,900), along with free to and fro tickets to deliver the bag in Malaysia.