DRI unearths new modus operandi of smuggling, seizes heroin concealed in 'Afghan broom'

At the India-Pakistan border in Amritsar, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) unearthed a new modus operandi for smuggling heroin into India via the land route, according to officials.

At the Integrated check post in Attari, Amritsar, a consignment of brooms was intercepted on the basis of intelligence gathered and additional profiling by DRI officers. On Thursday, authorities seized 5.480 kg of recovered heroin that was valued at Rs 38.36 crore on the foreign market after analysis.

"In the consignment of 4,000 pieces of brooms in 40 bags, the heroin was stealthily filled in 442 hollow short pieces/sticks of river cane/bamboo (in 3 bags) with ends of such sticks artificially sealed and such sticks were further concealed/camouflaged by being placed/packed inside 'Afghan Brooms' which were tied up with iron wire on the outside," a DRI official said in a statement."The cargo consignment of "Afghan Brooms" from Afghanistan was imported by an Afghan national with fake Indian IDs in connivance with his Indian national wife. The said Afghan national was out on bail granted in an earlier NDPS case booked by Delhi Police in 2018. Both, the Afghan national and his wife were arrested under the NDPS Act, 1985. Further, follow-up action and investigations to unearth the entire conspiracy and smuggling module and to gather evidence are being conducted," it added.

In another incident on the same day, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized 1,349 kg of narcotic substances worth Rs 33.7 crore from Rajasthan's Alwar district, officials said.

"DRI seized 1349 Kgs of Narcotic substance -- Khat Leaves (Dry Chatt or Mira Leaves Dry Chat Edulis) at ICD Khatuwas, valued at Rs 33.7 crore in the illicit market and imported from Apapa Port, Nigeria," a DRI official said. 

In another incident in Hyderabad, a Nigerian national was detained for allegedly peddling drugs from the Lower Tank Bund, police said. The circle inspector (CI) of Gandhi Nagar police station in Gujarat said the accused was identified as Agodike Nnaemeka alias Michael Ebere (34).