The crime branch here has seized ketamine hydrochloride (date rape drug) from a consignment being smuggled from Rajasthan to the US via Gujarat through the foreign post office, an official said on Saturday.
Acting on a tip-off, crime branch officials directed the foreign post office of the Ahmedabad customs department to intercept a parcel that was sent from Pushkar (Rajasthan) to Navsari in south Gujarat to be transported to the US, the official said.
When the content of the consignment was inspected in the presence of customs officials, two plastic boxes containing 590 gm of white powder apart from some cosmetics and clothes were recovered, he said.
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"The powder was sent to the forensic science laboratory (FSL) in Gandhinagar for examination. It was confirmed to be ketamine hydrochloride, a drug banned under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act," the official said.
The contraband is worth Rs 2.95 crore in the international market, the official said, adding that the sender of the parcel has been booked under the NDPS Act, and further investigation was underway.
Ketamine is an anaesthetic agent that is often misused as a recreational party drug. Classified as a psychotropic substance under the NDPS Act, it is used to induce loss of consciousness and is used by some people to get a hallucinogenic high, in place of other narcotics.
