New Delhi/Kolkata, July 5 (IANS) In a crackdown against narcotics supply networks, the DRI seized 1.11 lakh of Codeine-based cough syrup bottles and arrest of one person in two separate operations conducted in Tripura and West Bengal, an official said on Sunday.

The officers of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) intercepted a consignment being transported in the parcel van of a train bound for Agartala on July 2 and seized it under the provisions of the NDPS Act, 1985, the official said in a statement.

The contraband was found ingeniously concealed inside 80 metallic drums beneath a layer of powdery substance used as cover cargo, it said.

A total of 55,626 bottles of Codeine-based cough syrup were recovered and seized, it said.

The operation was carried out with the assistance of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Assam Rifles. One person, who had arrived to take delivery of the consignment was arrested.

Around same period, in another operation, DRI officers searched a warehouse at Dankuni, West Bengal, where 56,225 bottles of Codeine-based cough syrup were recovered from 104 sealed iron drums, said the statement.

The bottles had been concealed beneath a layer of china clay powder inside the drums to evade detection. The entire quantity was seized under the relevant provisions of the NDPS Act, 1985, it said.

Overall, the two operations resulted in seizure of around 1.11 lakh of Codeine-based cough syrup bottles and arrest of one person, it said.

Codeine, a derivative of opium, has legitimate therapeutic use in regulated pharmaceutical preparations. However, Codeine-based cough syrups are often targeted by drug trafficking networks owing to their abuse potential when diverted for illicit consumption.

The DRI said these seizures highlight the continued attempts by organised smuggling syndicates to divert pharmaceutical preparations containing narcotic substances for illicit trafficking through innovative concealment methods.

Through coordinated intelligence-driven operations, the DRI remains committed to dismantling such networks, said the statement.

–IANS

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