In its continued crackdown on smuggling of Heroin into India,Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) detained two containers on 13.09.2021 for examination that had arrived at Mundra Port from Kandhar, Afghanistan via Bandar Abbas, Iran. The containers were declared to contain Semi-processed Talc Stones. Detailed examination of the containers led to the seizure of 2988 kgs of heroin from the two containers on 17.09.2021 and 19.09.21.

The heroin was concealed in jumbo bags said to contain unprocessed talc powder. The heroin was placed in the lower layers of the bags. The heroin was then topped with Talc stones to avoid detection. Resultantly, the heroin had to be painstakingly separated from the Talc Stones.

Immediate follow-up operations were carried out in New Delhi, Noida (UP), Chennai, Coimbatore, Ahmedabad, Mandvi, Gandhidham and Vijaywada. This led to recovery of 16.1 kgs of heroin from a Godown in Delhi, 10.2 kgs powder suspected to be cocaine and 11 kgs of substance suspected to be heroin from a residential place in Noida.

A total of eight (8) persons including four (4) Afghan nationals, one (1) Uzbek National and three (3) Indian nationals have been arrested in the case so far. The arrested Indian Nationals include the holder of the Import Export Code (IEC), which was used to import the consignment. He was arrested from Chennai. Investigations are in progress.

Drug seizure in talc shipments uncovers concealed heroin; follow-up raids yield arrests and ongoing network investigations. DRI detained two containers declared as semi-processed talc stones arriving from Kandhar via Bandar Abbas and recovered heroin concealed in lower layers of jumbo bags and topped with talc stones to avoid detection. Follow-up operations in several cities recovered additional suspected narcotics and a total of eight persons were arrested, including foreign nationals and the Indian holder of the Import Export Code used for the consignment. Investigations are ongoing into the smuggling network and related recoveries.