Customs officials seize hashish from religious books at IGI

Customs authorities today seized 20 kg of hashish, worth around Rs20 lakh, cleverly concealed in a consignment of religious books bound for Canada at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here.

Official sources said based on specific inputs, the export commissionerate of the Customs here carried out a check of certain courier packets containing 78 religious books at the New Courier Terminal of the IGI.

An inspection of the consignment booked under two different air bills revealed hashish—a narcotic made from cannabis—concealed in the hard bound cover of the books, sources said.

They said that the seized quantity of hashish is estimated to be valued at about Rs20 lakh.

Customs officials are trying to verify the antecedents of the person who booked the parcels and also the consignee.

Earlier this year, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) had seized 48 packets of heroin, concealed in Canada-bound courier packets containing religious material including VCDs and DVDs and religious books from Jalandhar.