Credit: Special Arrangement
Bengaluru: More than 600 packages of illicit drugs smuggled from abroad via the foreign post office in the city have been seized by the police.
The 606 packages confiscated by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) are valued at Rs 21 crore and were smuggled over 10 days this month.
In a joint operation, the CCB’s anti-narcotics bureau and customs officials at the foreign post office confiscated a total of 13 drugs, including hydro ganja, LSD, MDMA crystals, ecstasy pills, heroin, cocaine, amphetamine, charas, ganja oil, and e-cigarettes.
The illicit drugs smuggled from abroad.
Credit: Special Arrangement
A senior officer in the CCB told DH that the drugs were sent from the US, the UK, Belgium, Thailand and the Netherlands.
The officer explained that HSR Layout and CCB police stations had registered three cases pertaining to imported drug smuggling.
DH has learnt that Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda directed Srinivas Gowda, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime-2), to keep vigil on unusual and suspicious packages arriving from abroad. Gowda and his team approached the customs department at the foreign post office and combed through suspicious and unclaimed parcels. Sniffer dogs from the canine squad were subsequently deployed to sniff 3,500 suspicious packages.
Of them, 606 packages were found to have contraband.
A scrutiny of the details revealed that all 606 consignees had provided fake addresses to receive the packages. Investigators described this as the “classic” modus operandi to import contraband.
Darknet and Telegram channels used
In most cases, drug users place orders via Darknet and Telegram channels.
They conceal the nature of the products by labelling them as beverages, sweets and other commodities.
The CCB is now trying to identify if there were any previous orders to the fake addresses and who had received them.
It is noteworthy that Srikrishna alias Sriki, a city resident known for his exceptional hacking skills, was caught when the CCB investigated a case pertaining to the smuggling of illicit drugs from a foreign country.