MDMA is commonly known as ecstasy, a party drug that alters mood and perception and is chemically similar to both stimulants and hallucinogens which produce feelings of increased energy and pleasure.
In the second incident of thwarted ecstasy drug smuggling via foreign post in a week, Chennai Customs have seized a parcel containing 100 pills of MDMA, worth over Rs 3 lakh. In both these cases, the parcel was seized at the foreign post office based on intelligence inputs and arrests were also made from other states.
The parcel which was addressed to a person in Erode, Tamil Nadu had arrived at the Foreign Post Office in Chennai, from Frankfurt, Germany. It was found to contain light yellow coloured pills and a few light pink coloured pills. The pills tested positive for MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine), a narcotic substance.
Of the seized pills, yellow hexagonal-shaped ones, with ‘Philipp Plein’ aka PP SKULL marking have been around since 2017 and contain 225 mg of MDMA, whereas the light pink pills with ‘CNN’ marking contain 285mg of MDMA. Samples have been sent to the laboratory.
To apprehend the recipient, when Customs officials visited the cosigned address, they learnt that it was his parent’s house. His mother had informed the officials that he was living in Bengaluru and hadn’t returned home since the lockdown started.
As a follow up action, searches were carried out at his apartment located in the upscale Koramangala locality of Bengaluru, by a team of Air Customs, Chennai and Bangalore City Customs. The accused, a 25-year old Malaysian national of Indian origin, working with a leading firm was apprehended and brought to Chennai by road. He was arrested under the NDPS Act and was produced before the judicial magistrate and was remanded to judicial custody.
When asked about a majority of contraband (in pills) coming in from Europe, Commissioner of Customs, Rajan Chaudhary said that it was due to the high quality. “Tablets manufactured there are of very high quality, unlike the ones that are locally sourced. Pills coming from Europe are found to have a high percentage of MDMA and it is used in parties. This individual received it from a friend who was living abroad," he told WION.
MDMA is commonly known as ecstasy, a party drug that alters mood and perception and is chemically similar to both stimulants and hallucinogens which produce feelings of increased energy and pleasure. The seized pills are extremely potent as they contain a very high dosage of MDMA. Dosage above 120 mg is considered to be quite high and can be fatal.
Last Thursday, ecstasy pills worth Rs 12 lakh were seized and a person living in Andhra was arrested. In March as well, Air Customs had seized ecstasy pills worth Rs 30 lakh at Foreign Post Office, Chennai and arrested a Mysore based person.
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 "Two Ecstasy drug parcels seized in Chennai over last week, the combined value of the seized drugs in Rs 15 lakh")
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