2,500 kg meth, seized last year in country’s biggest drug haul, disposed of by NCB in Kochi
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Kochi: The Kochi unit of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has disposed of over 2,700 kg of synthetic drugs seized by the national agency in two cases over a year ago.
The massive quantity of Methamphetamine Hydrochloride, known as crystal meth, and heroin was disposed of through incineration at a facility of the Kerala Enviro Infrastructure Ltd (KEIL), at Ambalamedu on Tuesday.
The contraband was destroyed in the presence of the members of the High-level Drug Disposal Committee (HLDDC), including Maneesh Kumar IRS, deputy director general (Southern Region), zonal director, Cochin, and deputy director, DRI Cochin.
The NCB had seized 199.445 kg of heroin in October 2022 and 2525.675 kg of crystal meth in May 2023. In both cases, the contraband drugs were found to be sourced from Iran and a total of seven Iranian nationals were arrested. They have been remanded.
A High-level Drug Disposal Committee (HLDDC) comprising DDG (Southern Region) NCB, zonal director NCB Cochin and deputy director DRI Cochin was constituted to consider the cases for pre-trial disposal as per the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court.
An initial meeting convened by the HLDDC had recommended both cases fit for pre-trial disposal. The drugs were disposed of after completion of all legal formalities, the NCB said in a statement.
The October 2022 meth seizure was termed by the NCB as the biggest drug haul in the country in terms of the monetary value of the seized substance. The crystal meth was valued at around Rs 15,000 crore, according to NCB sources. The narcotics were seized in a joint operation by NCB and Navy from a ship at an undisclosed location in the Indian waters. The contraband, stuffed in 134 plastic sacs, was seized from an unnamed vessel intercepted by the agencies.
The seizure was part of Operation Samudragupt which targets ships carrying narcotic contraband through the Indian Ocean region. Mother Ships are large sea-going vessels carrying large quantities of narcotic contrabands to be distributed to receiving vessels over the route.