JOIN USCustoms at the Kempegowda International Airport seized 11 kilograms of the drug Ketamine, tucked neatly between sweet boxes and shipped to Kuala Lumpur from Chennai through FedEx.
On January 2, officials picked up 17 packets marked by the exporter as 'Shree Mithai' (assorted indian sweets) after the scan detected suspicious images in 11 of the boxes.
They had silver grey packets containing smaller sachets. A red powder was smeared over the packets to prevent them from being detected, customs officials said. The white crystalline substance found in the sachets was later confirmed to be narcotics. The seizure is worth Rs 1 crore.
The exporter had shipped the packets from Chennai by FedEx, which collected the consignment to send the shipment to Kuala Lumpur through Bengaluru.
"Given the sensitivity of the case, FedEx managers from Chennai and Bengaluru will be summoned," said Additional Commissioner of Customs, Bengaluru, Harsh Vardhan Umre.
On New Year's Day, sleuths seized 450 grams of gold concealed in different forms on a passenger who arrived from Dubai.
Shamil Ahmed, a resident of Bhatkal, concealed the smuggled gold as suitcase rivets and purse frames.
Some of the yellow metal had been hidden in the embroidery of a burqa, while a couple of gold bracelets were concealed in a bridal saree. Ahmed has been picked up for
questioning.
Again, on New Year's Day, officials seized a pair of bison horns from a passenger who arrived from Kuala Lumpur.
On inquiry, Manjunath, a resident of Bengaluru, admitted that it was bison horns. Sleuths found the horns in his check-in baggage.
Manjunath carried the 24-kg horns in violation of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).
On January 4, customs officials found camel teeth in the baggage of Mohan and Devati P from Mysuru, who were travelling to Bangkok. The camel teeth weighed 71.26 kg. Officials are probing the incident.