NE NEWS SERVICE
SURAT, JULY 11
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized a consignment of banned drug Tramadol headed from Hazira Port to Conakry, the capital of Guinea in Africa, and three people were arrested here, officials said on Friday.
Tramadol is a synthetic opioid drug highly popular in nations like Nigeria, Ghana, etc, the release said.
The release further said the drug was reportedly also very popular among ISIS terrorists to overcome pain and fatigue, one of the reasons it is sometimes called “fighter drug”.
The DRI said it also raided a factory where the banned substance was made and raw materials for the manufacture of methamphetamine, also known as crystal meth, a popular party drug, were seized.
Those arrested include two directors of the company, identified as Harshal Desai and Mehul Desai, and chemist S Tamle.
“Acting upon specific intelligence, officers of DRI, Surat, and Vapi intercepted an export consignment at Hazira port and on examination of two containers, 15,20,000 tablets of Tramadol were found to be concealed with other pharma products,” a DRI release said, adding that the price of the consignment, to be exported to Conakry port of Guinea in Africa, was Rs 1.22 crore.
It informed that the raids were conducted in the last three days.
“Searches were also conducted at the factory of pharma company where manufacturing of said psychotropic substance and packaging took place. Machineries used for manufacturing have also been seized. Further, the director has admitted to having exported 44.80 lakh tablets of Tramadol, with a market price of Rs 3.58 crore, illicitly by concealing it in their earlier cleared export consignments,” it said.
Looking into the widespread misuse of Tramadol, India included this drug as a psychotropic substance in the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985 in April 2018.
A search of the factory also revealed that controlled substances ephedrine and pseudoephedrine have been illegally diverted, both used for the manufacture of methamphetamine.
Both chemicals are part of the NDPS regulation of controlled substance order of 2013.
