Booking an international parcel through the Indian postal service will soon require furnishing of identity documents such as passport or Aadhar card. The decision has been taken after counter-narcotics agencies reported an increasing trend among drug cartels to ship contraband abroad through Indian postal service as there is no scrutiny of the content of a parcel or the sender's identity in the current system.
According to Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), anywhere between 300-400 Indian postal service parcels containing narcotics are apprehended by various agencies in India and abroad every year. Sources say the actual trade could be ten times more.
Recently, NCB sleuths seized as many as 19 parcels containing Alprazolam on way to USA from Ahmedabad. Five men who ran a company selling drugs online were arrested in connection with the case. On interrogation, it was revealed that the seized parcels were part of a consignment of 48 packets of the drug, 29 of which had already been shipped to the US. "We learnt that they had been doing this for several months and have similarly parceled many consignments," said an NCB official.
Last week, top NCB sleuths held a meeting with the Indian postal service brass with particular focus on lack of proper checks in connection with international parcels. Deputy Director General (Operations) at NCB, BB Mishra, when asked, confirmed the development and said, "The department has assured us that furnishing of identity documents to book an international parcel would be made mandatory. It would also push government for financial sanction to install X-ray machines at the six parcel gateways in the country," said a senior NCB official.
Sources said the Indian postal service is actually running behind time in ensuring legitimate parcel shipping. "All international couriers demand for identity documents of the sender, only Indian postal service does not. Because of this, even after we apprehend consignments we are not able to reach the sender. The new rules would be big help in curbing this practice," said the official.
According to Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), anywhere between 300-400 Indian postal service parcels containing narcotics are apprehended by various agencies in India and abroad every year. Sources say the actual trade could be ten times more.
Recently, NCB sleuths seized as many as 19 parcels containing Alprazolam on way to USA from Ahmedabad. Five men who ran a company selling drugs online were arrested in connection with the case. On interrogation, it was revealed that the seized parcels were part of a consignment of 48 packets of the drug, 29 of which had already been shipped to the US. "We learnt that they had been doing this for several months and have similarly parceled many consignments," said an NCB official.
Last week, top NCB sleuths held a meeting with the Indian postal service brass with particular focus on lack of proper checks in connection with international parcels. Deputy Director General (Operations) at NCB, BB Mishra, when asked, confirmed the development and said, "The department has assured us that furnishing of identity documents to book an international parcel would be made mandatory. It would also push government for financial sanction to install X-ray machines at the six parcel gateways in the country," said a senior NCB official.
Sources said the Indian postal service is actually running behind time in ensuring legitimate parcel shipping. "All international couriers demand for identity documents of the sender, only Indian postal service does not. Because of this, even after we apprehend consignments we are not able to reach the sender. The new rules would be big help in curbing this practice," said the official.
Source:-The Times of India
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