NCB seizes illicitly diverted pharma drugs, cigarettes at Mumbai airport

An official said that the NCB's Mumbai zonal unit had received a tip-off about an international syndicate involved in procuring pharmaceutical drugs from India illicitly and transporting them to offshore customers.

Mumbai: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has seized 74,000 capsules of illicitly diverted pharmaceutical drugs and 2.44 lakh cigarettes of fake brands at the air cargo terminal of the international airport, an official said on Sunday.

The NCB's Mumbai zonal unit had received a tip-off about an international syndicate involved in procuring pharmaceutical drugs from India illicitly and transporting them to offshore customers, the official said.

He said following surveillance, the probe agency zeroed in on two containers belonging to logistics companies and stopped their movement at the air cargo terminal of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.

The official said the NCB team seized 74,000 capsules, around 29.6 kg, of illicitly diverted pharmaceutical drugs and 2.44 lakh cigarettes of fake brands in an operation on Friday and Saturday.

He said the seized drugs were worth Rs 75 lakh.

The consignments were to be transported to London, and the mis-declared articles were concealed among food items, he said, adding that two courier and logistics companies are under investigation.