The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Courier firms cautioned against drug consignments

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Wednesday, Nov 26, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Courier firms cautioned against drug consignments

S. Vijay Kumar

They must consult a NCB checklist while handling suspicious parcels

Companies asked to alert enforcement agencies, if they come across suspicious consignment
If any company knowingly allows booking of drug consignments, it will be prosecuted

CHENNAI: The Narcotics Control Bureau has cautioned courier firms in Tamil Nadu against delivery of consignments containing drugs. They will be provided with a checklist that they must consult while handling “suspicious” consignments.

“We have had many instances of drugs being sent through couriers from here to foreign destinations, mostly European countries, the United States, Canada and South Africa. Drugs that came to India from other countries in a similar fashion were also seized. So, it has become imperative to sensitise courier companies to the problem,” NCB South Zonal Director S. Davidson Devasirvatham told The Hindu on Monday.

On how the drugs stuffed in couriers were not detected while being screened at the entry and exit points (airports), he said the suspects used some techniques to conceal the contraband. Representatives of 20 courier companies, who attended a meeting convened by the NCB last week, were told to alert drug law enforcement agencies, if they came across a suspicious consignment.

“If any courier company knowingly allows booking of drug consignments, it will become liable for criminal prosecution. Since booking, transport and delivery of consignments have been outsourced by some courier firms, we have asked them to ensure precautionary measures are taken at all levels,” Mr. Davidson Devasirvatham said. NCB experts conducted a demonstration of the techniques drug peddlers used to stuff contraband in courier consignments. Since many foreign nationals were involved in trafficking, the agency was developing a database of the profile of students (foreigners) who were studying in the southern States. Mr. Davidson Devasirvatham said information on such students was being collected from the Foreign Registration Offices in the States. “Sensitisation programmes for courier companies will soon be held in Bangalore and Hyderabad.”

NCB Superintendent S. Karthikeyan said courier companies were told to insist on production of photo identity proof by consignees as well as consignors if they had any doubt about the address mentioned on the packet.

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