Pune:
The Customs Preventive Unit of Pune Customs Commissionerate has seized 14.5 kg of opium transported to Pune from Rajasthan.
Speculation is rife that this confiscation is indicative of several rave parties that might hit the city as a part of the New Year's celebration.
In India, one kg of opium is worth approximately Rs 1 lakh.
Officers arrested two people in connection with the drug seizure. The accused Rajasthan residents Ambalal Shrilalji Ahir (28) and Kailash Chandra Malalra (35) were given the consignment and asked to hand it over to a person in Pune.
Commissioner R Sekar confirmed that the drugs were supposed to be delivered in the city.
Customs officials refused to divulge the name of the person who was supposed to accept the contraband from the duo but confirmed that the concerned person was from Pune.
Sekar said, "Such a large quantity of narcotics seized from Pune indicates that the consumption of narcotics in the city has gone up. And the demand could be because of the increasing number of foreign students in the city."
Insiders said the consignment may have been meant for New Year parties in the city.
D B More, Superintendent of Customs Preventive Unit said, "Opium is grown legally in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh for medicinal purpose. The seizure of this contraband indicates that it is transported to other states in clandestine manner which is then sold for consumption."
S B Shinde Deputy Commissioner said, "We believe that Pune has no processing unit to chemically process opium to produce heroin for the illegal trade and we believe that the contraband seized in Pune was meant for the consumption in the city."