Chennai Customs seizes ecstasy pills sent from the UK

Customs officials at the airport here have foiled a bid to smuggle ecstasy pills from the United Kingdom sent through parcel service and detained the consignee, a top official said here on Saturday.

It is for the first time that the department has seized the drug from the United Kingdom, Customs Commissioner Rajan Choudhary said.

He said recently Scotland Yard and West Midlands Police busted a major drug racket in Birmingham and Wolverhampton recently.

The pills seized at the Foreign Post Office here were worth Rs eight lakh and were sent from Wolverhampton near Birmingham, he said.

On examination it was revealed that the pills were methylenedioxy-methamphetamine - a narcotic substance.

The pills known as 'Blue Punisher' bear a human skull mark and are in high demand in the United Kingdom as they contain high MDMA, he said.

Consumption of the pills alters the mood similar to stimulants producing feelings of increased energy and pleasure.

The parcel was addressed to a person in neighbouring Thiruvallur district and the Customs department sleuths detained an individual who was residing in the address to ascertain his role in the smuggling of the drug, he said.

Recently, the department sleuths recovered MDMA pills worth Rs 3 lakh from Germany and arrested a 25-year old Malaysian national in this connection.

In March, the Customs department seized ecstasy pills worth Rs 30 lakh at the Foreign Post Office here.