19 March,2024 08:38 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Representational Pic/File
A high-level Drug Destruction Committee consisting senior officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and Mumbai Customs on Tuesday destroyed 31.948 kg of drugs worth Rs 265 crore, according to an official release, reported the ANI.
According to the ANI, drugs including heroin, cocaine, and marijuana were incinerated at the Common Hazardous Waste Treatment Storage & Disposal Facility (CHWTSDF), MWML in Taloja area of Navi Mumbai in Maharashtra.
Incineration of such seized items, which are hazardous to nature if released otherwise, is required to be done in incinerators fitted with standardised pollution control devices, the release said, as per the ANI.
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This is the third such destruction in this financial year, the first being on July 19, 2023, of 128.47 kg of drugs valued at Rs 865 crore and the second on December 13, 2023, of 54.85 kg of drugs valued at Rs 410 crore in the illicit market.
In the present financial year, a total of 215.268 kg of drugs valued at Rs 1540 crore were destroyed, officials stated further.These drugs have been seized by various agencies, like the Postal Appraisal Section (PAS), the Special Investigation and Intelligence Branch (SIIB) and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).
Mumbai Customs is committed to ensuring strict law enforcement against the illicit trafficking of NDPS substances to secure our citizens a safe and healthy lives.
Persons carrying banned narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances are guilty of the offence under Section 8 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985 and are liable to punishment under section 21, section 23 and section 29 of NDPS Act 1985, read along with provisions of the Customs Act, 1962, the news agency reported on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, in an another incident, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) busted a major international drug smuggling syndicate operating and based in India, the officials said on Tuesday.
According to the DRI, in a major success to curb the drug menace in India, the DRI officers busted an international drug smuggling syndicate.
The agency said that the DRI has seized 9.829 kgs of cocaine having illicit market value of approximately 100 crores and apprehended two female passengers of Indonesian and Thai nationality who had come from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with an aim of smuggling the said quantity of cocaine into India.
(with ANI inputs)
