‘Drug menace has to be fought’: FM Sitharaman lauds DRI after 18 kg synthetic drug seizure

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has seized more than 18 kg of synthetic drugs, including amphetamine and MDMA tablets, in two separate intelligence-led operations at Bengaluru and Pune railway stations, arresting four persons under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.

Appreciating the swift actions of DRI, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that drug menace has to be defeated.

“Appreciate DRI on being alert. Drug menace has to be fought and it should be defeated. In national interest,” she wrote in a X post on Saturday. 

DRI arrested a woman passnger in Bengaluru

According to the officials, in the larger operation on August 25, DRI officers intercepted an Indian woman passenger at KSR Bengaluru Railway Station who had travelled from New Delhi by train and was suspected of carrying a large quantity of contraband.

A detailed examination of her baggage led to the recovery of seven packets containing around 14.9 kg of a crystalline substance. Preliminary testing with a field drug detection kit indicated the presence of amphetamine, according to the DRI.

The psychotropic substance, along with packing and concealment material, was seized under the NDPS Act.

Cracking the drug network 

Based on information gathered during the investigation, DRI officers carried out a follow-up operation at the designated delivery location and intercepted a person who had arrived to receive the baggage from the carrier. Further action led to the interception of another person who had come to receive the contraband from the first receiver.

All three persons involved in the transportation and attempted receipt of the contraband were arrested, the agency said.

DRI arrested another woman passenger in Pune 

In a separate and unrelated operation on the same day, DRI officers intercepted another Indian woman passenger at Pune Junction railway station. She was travelling from Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station in Delhi via Pune.

A search of her baggage resulted in the recovery of around 2.53 kg of a white and yellow-coloured crystalline substance purported to be amphetamine, along with tablets purported to be 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), weighing 878 grams gross.

The contraband was seized and the passenger was arrested under the NDPS Act.

DRI's intensified crackdown on synthetic drug 

The latest seizures are part of the DRI's intensified crackdown on synthetic drug trafficking networks across the country. Over the past fortnight, the agency has seized around 150 kg of amphetamine-type stimulant drugs in five operations.

These include the seizure of 76 kg of methamphetamine tablets in two operations along India's North-Eastern frontier and 55.86 kg of methamphetamine concealed by mixing it with maize or corn in an export consignment destined for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.