Customs seize Hashish coming from Indo-Bhutan border

Siliguri, May 27 (UNI) Customs officials here today recovered three kg of hashish, estimated to be worth Rs three crore in the international market, being smuggled from the Indo-Bhutan border to Japan via Siliguri.

Joint Commissioner of North Bengal Debasis Sahu said that a parcel, carrying religious scriptures from the Indo-Bhutan border area of Jaygaon was being ''couriered'' to Japan via Siliguri when the customs received a tip-off that the package contained hashish.

Following that tip-off, the officials seized the parcel and recovered the contraband, he said.

''Raids are on to nab the smugglers,'' he said, adding that the sender was a person from Jaygaon, without revealing the identity of the person for the sake of their investigation.

Meanwhile, he said, ''We suspect that this may be the handiwork of a gangster from Nepal, who had masterminded such an episode almost a year back, in which two persons had been arrested, one each from Siliguri and Kolkata and 20 kgs of hashish was seized.

''Siliguri has long been the corridor for gangsters smuggling contraband to Japan,'' he said and added, ''In the international market, its value may be estimated at Rs three crores.'' UNI XC LL RL KP1925