India seizes heroin-soaked yarn worth $58 million

Container was filled with yarn, but examination shows that threads were laced with heroin derivative

By
Reuters
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Indian customs officials stand next to boxes of suspected drugs weighing 102 kilogrammes during a news conference held in Amritsar, India, on April 24, 2022.—AFP
Indian customs officials stand next to boxes of suspected drugs weighing 102 kilogrammes during a news conference held in Amritsar, India, on April 24, 2022.—AFP

  • Authorities seize 90 kg of drugs worth $58 million.
  • Seizure happened at port in western state of Gujarat.
  • Container was filled with yarn laced with heroin derivative.


Indian authorities seized 90 kg of drugs worth $58 million from a port in the western state of Gujarat, a police officer said on Saturday, the third such haul in two weeks.

Friday's seizure was made from a container that arrived in the port of Pipavav at a time when India has stepped up vigilance on its western border to prevent drug smuggling from Iran and Afghanistan.

"The container was filled with yarn, but an examination showed that the threads were laced with a heroin derivative, before being dried and converted into bales," a state police official told Reuters.

The heroin mixed in the threads would have needed to be extracted, the federal government said in a statement.