New Delhi:
Ketamine worth Rs 26 lakh, which was to be smuggled out of the country as a courier consignment, has been seized from the cargo terminal of Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport here by custom officials.
About 2.6 kg of Ketamine was kept in cartons of ready- made garments which was to be shipped to Indonesia via cargo terminal.
"The drug was hidden in cartons of readymade garments. It was seized by our officials yesterday. The consignment was booked by a Chennai-resident and it was to be sent to Indonesia," Additional Commissioner of Customs at cargo terminal, IGI, K K Katheria said.
He said a team of custom officials will visit Chennai to ascertain the credentials of the person who had booked it.
The custom officials have asked the courier company, which had booked the consignment, to give details of the consignee, official sources said.
Ketamine is a prescribed intravenous drug used as anesthesia in human and veterinary medicine. It is often abused in rave parties as a recreational drug.
A kilogram of Ketamine can fetch Rs 10 lakh in international drug market.
The custom officials had early this week seized a consignment containing 5 kg of cocaine and 12 kg of Ketamine, valuing about Rs 25 crore.
The drugs, concealed in packets of snacks to avoid detection, were being sent via cargo to places in the US and the UK, the sources said.
The consignment, detected on Monday, was booked via a courier company by a Ghaziabad-based firm, they said.