Outlook September 02, 2020 19:54 IST Ecstasy, gutka recovered from different parts of chennai 1970-01-01T05:30:00+0530

(EDS: Combines related story) Chennai, Sep 2 (PTI) Various banned drugs were seized by the police and Customs sleuths in different parts of the city on Wednesday. Some of the contraband were allegedly sent from foreign countries. While Customs officials recovered Rs 7 lakh worth of MDMA pills and crystal from the Foreign Post Office at the airport here, police seized nearly 1,000 kg of gutka, a banned tobacco product, from a house at Ayapakkam. "Chennai Air Customs intercepted three parcels suspected to contain narcotic substances which arrived from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands at the Foreign Post Office in Chennai," a Customs press release said. In separate consignments marked for persons in Udhagamandalam in Nilgiris and Namakkal, Customs officials found MDMA pills and MDMA crystal powder in a children''s jewellery toy box. MDMA (methylenedioxymethamphetamine) or ecstasy as the drug is known is said to alter mood and perception. "Totally, 215 MDMA pills and 7 grams of MDMA crystals valued at Rs 7 lakh were recovered and seized under the NDPS Act, 1985. Follow-up searches were carried out and further investigation was in progress," the release added. Meanwhile, the city police, following a tip-off, raided a house at Ayapakkam and found 970 kg of banned gutka stored there. A search is on for a person in this connection, police said. In another instance, 10 kg of ganja was recovered from a house at Nungambakkam and six people, including those hailing from Haryana and Andhra Pradesh, were arrested, police said. The police did not reveal the value of the seized narcotic. The police intensified its crackdown on illegal sale of drugs and recording a number of seizures, including 16.5 kg ganja from a house recently, leading to the arrest of four people. Between August 6 and 31, the police said they had recovered over 800 kg of ganja in the city. Action is also being taken on sale of various drugs such as MDMA, the police said. Incidentally, a notorious drug-peddler was gunned down in the city on August 21, when he attempted to flee after attacking a constable in a police team that was accompanying him to recover drugs. PTI SA VIJ NVG NVG