Airport, Customs sleuths seize drugs worth 5 cr, 1 held in Tiruchy

This is the second such haul at Tiruchy airport in the space of a month. Intelligence officials from Airport and Tiruchy Customs swung into action, after receiving a tip-off about a huge quantity of methamphetamine being smuggled to Malaysia through Tiruchy airport. They stopped a passenger identified as H Mohammed Fazul Haq (30) hailing from Kilakkarai in Ramnad district. 

According to reliable sources, the man was to board the Malindo Air flight OD 224. In screening his baggage they found specially made rexine packages filled with a white crystalline substance. The rexine bag was made of three layers of plastic sheet, covered with blue carbon paper and they were put into the tubular section of the handle of the bag. 

Experts, brought in to test the substance confirmed it was methamphetamine, a psychotropic substance listed under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS). The possession, sale, transport and export of the substance is prohibited under section 8 (c) of NDPS Act, 1985.The passenger was arrested and produced before the Judicial Magistrate Court I, Tiruchy and remanded under judicial custody.  

It may be recalled that on June 14, D Santhosh Kumar, from Tiruchy was arrested for attempting to smuggle the contraband to Malaysia. He was smuggling 8.35 kg of methamphetamine worth Rs 10 Crore.

Money trap: Experts said smugglers usually identified young people in districts, who were in need of money and who could be turned into ‘couriers’. Upon identification, such men were ‘tested’ and made to transport a small quantity of the drug. Once they succeeded in handing over of the substance, the quantity of drug carried by them was increased gradually. Such men are called kuruvis.  

According to a former kuruvi the smugglers never know the identity of the receivers at the other end.  Thanks to technology, the kuruvi would be photographed just before boarding the flight and the image sent to the counterpart in Malaysia via Whatsapp. For every successful delivery, they would be paid anything between Rs 10,000 and 15,000.

Methamphetamine and mental disorder: According to National Institute of Drug Abuse, taking even small amounts of methamphetamine can result in many of the same physical effects as those of other stimulants, such as cocaine or amphetamines. These include more wakefulness, increased physical activity, decreased appetite, increased respiration, rapid heart rate, irregular heartbeat, increased blood pressure, and increased body temperature. 

Long-term methamphetamine use impacts on health. It leads to extreme weight loss, severe dental problems (“meth mouth”), and skin sores caused by scratching. Methamphetamine use also raises the risk of contracting infectious diseases like HIV and hepatitis B and C. These can be contracted both by sharing contaminated drug injection equipment and through unprotected sex. Regardless of how it is taken, methamphetamine alters judgment and inhibition and can lead people to engage in these and other types of risky behaviour.