Ahmedabad, Mar 13 (PTI) Hybrid ganja and other drugs worth around Rs 3.45 crore, hidden in soft toys and food products, were seized from parcels dispatched to Gujarat's Ahmedabad from countries including America and Canada, police said on Thursday.
Parcels containing psychotropic substances were received at the Foreign Post Office in Ahmedabad some time ago, but had not been claimed, the crime branch said in a release.
To evade action by the authorities, the drugs were concealed inside soft toys as well as food products, such as protein powder, and then packed in parcels, it said.
Following the recovery of drugs worth Rs 3.45 crore, an FIR was registered by the city crime branch against unidentified senders as well as receivers under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, the release added.
These 105 parcels contained 10.55 kilograms of hybrid ganja worth Rs 3.12 crore, 79 grams of charas worth Rs 3.95 lakh, six bottles of isopropyl nitrite, 248 grams of MDMA worth Rs 24.80 lakh, and 32 bottles of cannabis oil (5 ml each), it said, adding that the total value of seized drugs was Rs 3.45 crore.
Recently, the crime branch had received a tip-off that drugs were being sent to India from other countries by hiding them inside toys and food products, said the release.
Working on the tip-off, the crime branch contacted the Customs department officials to identify suspected parcels. Upon checking 105 such parcels handed over by the Customs department, the crime branch found these drugs concealed inside other items, the crime branch said.
These parcels originated from countries like the US, Canada and Thailand and orders were placed from India using the Dark Web.
"The senders and receivers of these parcels were yet to be identified as all the parcels had incomplete or wrong information on them," Assistant Commissioner of Police Himala Joshi said.
"It was done intentionally by drug dealers to dodge the authorities. The receiver gives an incomplete or wrong address and name. Then, he will keep a watch on the local postman's movement and approach him whenever he comes in that area with the parcel," she said.
