Chennai: After getting info on attainable drug smuggling via parcels from Africa, Chennai Air Customs officers on the Foreign Post Office detained 5 parcels from Nairobi, Kenya. The parcels contained flower vases, rosemary (herb) and dried spices.
According to an official, on examination, the eleven flower vases in the parcel had been discovered to be sealed. On being opened, pink plastic baggage containing Khat leaves had been discovered from all eleven vases. The different parcels contained herb and dried spices, whereas opaque plastic baggage had been full of Khat leaves.
From the 5 parcels, a complete of 46.8 kgs of Khat leaves value Rs.1.17 Crore had been recovered and seized underneath the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) Act, 1985. The officers arrested a 27-year previous aeronautical engineer, who works in a city-based IT firm, in relation to the unlawful medicine smuggling case.Â
Khat (Catha edulis) often known as Miraa is a stimulant drug that causes euphoria and pleasure, which is prohibited underneath Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act in India. It is an evergreen shrub primarily cultivated in East Africa and South Yemen.
Khat incorporates alkaloids Cathinone and Cathine, moreover amphetamine-like stimulants, which causes euphoria. Khat is especially chewed for its soporific impact however some boil it in water and drink it like tea and has the potential to trigger habit.Â
In March 2020, Chennai Air Customs had seized 15.6 kg Khat leaves value Rs 40 lakhs, which had arrived from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at FPO Chennai.
