Narcotics Control Bureau seizes huge quantity of Islamic State drug from Mumbai courier firm

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Monday seized 4,824 Tramadol tablets, also known as ‘ISIS drug’, weighing around 2.613 kg, from a courier office in Mumbai’s Kurla area. The agency also arrested the supplier of the tablets, identified as Mohammad Anas, from Delhi.

Acting on a tip-off, the NCB’s Mumbai unit raided Professional Courier at Damji-Shamji Industrial Estate on LBS Marg and seized the tablets. Officials suspect that the drug was being smuggled to some Middle East country from where it would have been sent to terror outfits linked to ISIS or Boko Haram in Africa.

“Anas has been arrested under the provisions of Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. He is a suspect in four cases resgistered by NCB. We are questioning him as to where was the consignment supposed to get delivered. Further investigation is under progress,” an NCB official said.

Tramadol, a painkiller pharma drug, has been declared a “psychotropic substance” by the Union government and its sale in the country is strictly monitored. The drug was brought under the control of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in 2018, banning it from being sold freely over the counter.

The synthetic opiate is known to be abused on a wide scale by terrorists of the so-called ISIS to suppress pain and boost strength during injury and hence, is also known as “ISIS drug” among international anti-narcotics authorities.

Source: India Today