The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has seized 1,600 kg of NPS, a new psychotropic substance, at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, in Dhaka.
After being tipped-off, the CID’s Serious Crime Squad seized the consignment on Monday, said Sharmin Jahan, CID assistant superintendent of police (media).
The shipment arrived from Ethiopia on Sunday, via the Foreign Post Office —and was recovered from the airport’s cargo unit, she said.
At a press conference on Tuesday CID Deputy Inspector General Md Shah Alam said the NPS consignment comprised of 96 cartons labeled as “green tea” and they were supposed to be forwarded to 20 addresses across the country.
The seized NPS, known locally as Khat, is worth Tk2.38 crore, he said.
Shah Alam said they are verifying the cartons’ addresses.
Since the consignment arrived via post office there is no specific carrier, the CID official said, adding they will not spare anyone involved.
Earlier, NPS was seized at the airport by customs officials.
NPS is a new variety of drug.
United Nation Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) says: “These new psychoactive substances (NPS) have been known on the market by terms such as: “designer drugs”, “legal highs”, “herbal highs”, “bath salts”, “research chemicals”, and “laboratory reagents.”
The UNODC defines NPS as “substances of abuse, either in a pure form or a preparation, that are not controlled by the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs or the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, but which may pose a public health threat”.
