Lankan with 1.576 kgs of heroin nabbed in Chennai

The air intelligence unit of Chennai customs heroin worth Rs. 1.5 crore from a Sri Lankan national on Friday night. Customs officials arrested Baladeepan alias Balasingam, 25, a native of Jaffna, after he was found carrying 1.576 kg heroin in seven polythene packets concealed inside a Yamaha keyboard.

“The person was caught by the intelligence officials as they were profiling passengers at the airport. The man was about to board a SriLankan flight at about 8.30 pm. His behaviour raised doubts in the officials. They took him in for questioning and recalled his checked-in baggage,” Parminder Singh Sodhi, commissioner, customs, told The Times Of India.

Baladeepan was staying with his wife in Chennai for the past two years. His parents are still in Jaffna.

Customs Department officials said the heroin which seemed to have been sourced locally was of high quality. “Generally, the heroin produced in India for local use is not of a high quality. The contraband seized looked similar to Afghan heroin. However, we do not have any proof to show that the drug had come from across the border,” a customs official said.

Baladeepan had concealed the heroin in seven packets sealed with adhesive. The packets were hidden in the hollow portion of the keyboard. According to Q-branch sources, Baladeepan visited Sri Lanka frequently. According to sources, Baladeepan was staying in Mannadi. A person who had befriended Baladeepan in Mannadi gave him the keyboard at Kathipara junction as he was on his way to the airport on Friday.

“The arrested person seems to be a courier who travels between Colombo and Chennai to smuggle electronic goods. The person who gave him the consignment seemed to have exploited their friendship,” another official said.

Sources said Mannadi in North Chennai has turned out to be a hub for nefarious activity. In the current financial year, Chennai airport customs have seized heroin worth more than Rs 11 crore in the international market, as well as other smuggled goods worth Rs. 14 crore.

In the first quarter of 2008, there were back-to-back seizures of heroin at Chennai airport by various agencies. In all cases, the heroin was routed to China via South East Asian countries, mainly Malaysia. Most of the carriers were foreign women nationals.

Times of India, India