TN pharma exporter held for shipping out psychotropic drugs

Chennai

A pharmaceutical exporter in Tamil Nadu's Madurai has been arrested for sending psychotropic drugs abroad via parcel, Chennai Air Customs said on Wednesday.

In a statement issued here, the Commissioner of Customs, Chennai International Airport, said the officials had intercepted two postal parcels bound for the US on the suspicion they contained psychotropic drugs.

The first parcel was found to contain 20 strips of Alprazolam totaling 300 tablets and the second parcel had 155 tablets of Lorazepam, Clonazepam and Diaepam.

The parcels were addressed to Gallatin and Alexander cities in Tennessee and Arkansas states, respectively and were booked from Madurai.

On follow-up, it was found that the parcels were booked by a person who is running a pharmaceutical export firm in Madurai exporting ayurvedic, and siddha as well as allopathic medicines.

The exporter had sent psychotropic drugs to overseas buyers using a fake name without having authorisation from the Narcotics Commissioner and the payments were received through Paypal. He has been arrested, the statement said.

For legal export of these drugs, license is required from the Narcotics Commissioner. These drugs belong to a class of medicine known as Benzodiazepine, which is used in the treatment of anxiety, seizures and panic attack. The abuse of these drugs is common among youth.